Proceedings of National Women's Mini-Retreat 2021
Theme : "Inward Journey"
Saturday, March 27, 2021, 1:00pm PDT - 4:00 pm PDT
Guest Speakers :
Geetha Mohan Ram comes from a family of devotees that has been in Swami’s service for more than six decades. Her father Dr. Padmanabhan, a renowned dental surgeon, was very dear to Swami and served Him in various organizational capacities at Whitefield, Bangalore till 2008. Geetha's mother Kamala Padmanabhan was appointed by Swami to be the SSE coordinator for Karnataka state in India which she served with distinction for 25 years. She was specially chosen by Swami to be part of the original group that developed the first SSE (Bal Vikas) curriculum under the direction of Bhagawan Himself. Geetha, who was named by Swami, has had the incredible fortune of enjoying and experiencing the multi-faceted personality of our Divine Lord from birth. While Swami graced their home in Bangalore with His presence regularly, all her holidays and festivals were spent with Him in Puttaparthi.
At the tender age of 15, Geetha was selected by Swami to be an SSE teacher and in addition, delivered lectures under the EHV (Education in Human Values) program to high school teachers throughout the state of Karnataka, India. In 1978, her marriage to Mohan Ram was performed in the Divine Presence of Swami at Whitefield.
At Swami’s command and with His blessings, Geetha has been sharing her most intimate and wonderful experiences of our beloved Lord in different parts of the world for the past 20 years. In November 2005, on the occasion of Ladies Day, during Swami’s 80th Birthday celebrations she was chosen by Swami to address the distinguished gathering in His Divine Presence at Prashanthi Nilayam.
Ramya Gopinath Rao grew up in Canada and had her first darshan of Swami in the early 1980’s. She was privileged to attend the 1995 Summer Course in Bhagavan’s presence in Brindavan, Whitefield, and over the years has been blessed to have received His consistent guidance. Along with her husband and their two children, she is a long-time member of the Sri Sathya Sai Center of South Bethesda in Maryland, where she has served previously as a Group 3 guru, SSE coordinator, Study Circle facilitator, and currently serves as the Center President.
Starting in 2018, Ramya served a two-year term as the Region 2 Young Adult Womens’ Advisor. She is a practicing physician specializing in Infectious Diseases and a Medical Officer in the Division of Anti-Infectives at the Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring MD. As a faculty member of the Institute of Sathya Sai Education (ISSE – USA), Ramya co-leads workshops and curriculum development for Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) in Health Care. She participates actively in Swami's global medical mission, and has volunteered her service in Swami’s Super-Specialty Hospitals in Whitefield and Puttaparthi, in His General Hospital in Puttaparthi and in SSSIO medical camps in Puttaparthi, the Philippines, Kazakhstan and the U.S.
Panel Discussion
Inward Journey Insights