It was late afternoon on July 28, 2006. The Sai Young Adults (YAs) of Australia were seated at the divine lotus feet of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba inside the mandir bhajan hall at Prasanthi Nilayam when one of the boys asked Him, “Swami, what is Your mission for us in Australia?”
Even now, when I close my eyes, I can imagine that scene, with my hand on His feet, those lotus feet. ‘Lotus’ is a perfect word to describe them! His face was aglow with the sun’s radiance and the moon’s softness, the beauty of all the heavens in one. A distinct divine fragrance unique to Swami permeated the air. Then came the response, a gentle divine voice soothing like a lullaby, “I just want your love, love, love.”
Carrying The Directive From Up Above To Down Under
A few minutes after that unforgettable divine moment, we boarded our buses, went to Bangalore airport, and caught our flights back to Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Adelaide. We returned to work, school, life, the rat race of deadlines and competitions, demands and expectations, traffic, and all the rest. Like the American musical group of rappers, Black-Eyed Peas, we asked ourselves, “Where is the love?”
Once again, we were swallowed by this world, drowning in it. We were torn, caught in a tug of war between the beautiful memory of our beloved Swami versus the ‘reality of life.’
“We want to be with You at Your Divine Lotus Feet, Swami. Yet, You, in Your divine design, have placed us here. So, then, Swami, there is only one thing to do. Bring You here!”
That was our combined thought. But how can we do that? That was our plea to Him, and His answer to us was: Love@Work.
What Is Love@Work?
Simply said, it is to love God with all our heart through our actions, wherever He has placed us–the office, classroom, lab, clinic, home, or in the field. It started as a motivated group that grew in inspiration and numbers. Soon we had students, teachers, engineers, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, homemakers, laborers, server staff, lawyers, psychologists, counselors, scientists, librarians, accountants, people seeking work, IT professionals, business consultants, etc.–people from all walks of life enlisted as Love@Workers since 2006.
What started as an initiative to bring love to the workplace became a movement for us to observe the power of love at work! Isn’t it the truth about the universe that it is Swami’s love at work? Thus, Love@Work is intended for our self-development and Self Realization. It is meant for sharing Swami’s love with others–not incidentally or by chance. It’s verily a way of life!
Swami Blesses the Program
Swami inspired us from within to name it “Love@Work,” written just like that with the “@” in the middle. We thought it was a catchy and ‘cool’ way to call it, like an email address. But who are we before the ‘Master of Cool?’ A Love@Worker, an accountant, had this experience that proved this point.
“Driving in to work on Monday, I was thinking about the leadership course that I was taking, where participants set and monitored their self-improvement goals. I had to report my progress to the course coordinator during the week. I was telling Swami about my sense of unease because the only self-improvement I practiced that week was through Love@Work– how could I discuss this with the course coordinator?
I began my work day by dedicating the day’s tasks to Him and asking Him to work through me. Then my eyes fell on a package that had been sitting on my desk since we’d returned from India. It contained material from the leadership course. For some reason, I was drawn to open it at that moment. When I saw the first book’s title, my jaw dropped: “Love@Work” by the Australian Institute of Management! It was as though Swami had reassured me and blessed the program all at once, as only He can do. The smile on my face was fixed for the rest of the day as I basked in the knowledge that He was aware of my every thought and action.”
So, we feel that Love@Work is Swami’s prasadam to us.
The Love@Work Life
“Beloved Swami,
I cannot bear to be separated from You for an instant,
So, I will love You
in every interaction,
every person,
every task,
of every day.”
That is the Love@Work prayer. For me, Swami is “God”, but it can be any form of God or the formless God adored by the Love@Worker. Interestingly, when we started practicing Love@Work, Swami showed us the way through “Sai Inspires” (daily inspirational quotes). His guidance has become the bedrock of the Love@Work practice.
“Develop love wherever you are, be it in the forest or in the sky, be it in the city or in the village, be it on the mountain top or in the middle of the deep sea, love is your sole refuge…suffuse your life with love. Develop courage and conviction. Only then can humanness be transformed into Divinity.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, August 15, 2006
Love@Work is an informal group bound by the common thread of intense love for God. It is a space for Satsang, service, and spiritual study. More than anything else, it is proof of Swami’s promise, “If you need Me, you deserve Me.” Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, if we want Swami in our lives, we only need to practice and share His love.
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Dr Venkat Reddy practised medicine in Australia, New Zealand, England, and Fiji, and now works in medical education. He was Regional Sai Young Adults Coordinator for Queensland before serving as the National Sai Young Adults Coordinator of Australia. When his work took him to New Zealand and Fiji before returning to Australia, he took up the opportunity to serve as National Sai Young Adults Advisor in each of those three countries successively. He continues to support Sai Young Adult activities and strives to live a life underpinned by Love@Work.
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First published in Eternal Companion Vol. 2, Iss. 8