Contents
Editorial
A Conversation with Sri Sathya Sai Baba
The Last Word: 10 Things God won’t ask
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
to
contribute articles for the next issue, due at the end of September, please
contact Sharan Soni, Editor at shazer40@hotmail.com
Sai Ram
All
I was on the Internet looking for stories or
experiences for the newsletter. Baba is omnipresent and is always aware of what
we are doing so we should do everything with love and devotion as if he was
physically there watching us.
With regards to future articles, you could send them to
me at shazer40@hotmail.com.
Jai Sai Ram
Sharan Soni
Sugar Tea
Das
Ganu was once performing his Kirtan (religious discourse) and singing the glory
of Sai Baba, in the Koupineshwar temple in Thana. One Mr. Cholkar, a poor man serving
as a candidate in the Civil Courts in Thana, was amongst the audience. He heard
Dasganu's Kirtan most attentively and was much moved. He there and then
mentally bowed and vowed to Baba saying - "Baba, I am a poor man, unable
to support my family. If by your grace, I pass the departmental examination,
and get a permanent post, I shall go to Shirdi, fall at Your Feet and
distribute sugar-candy in your name."
As
good luck would have it, Mr.Cholkar did pass the examination and did get the
permanent post and now it remained for him to fulfill his vow, the sooner the
better. Mr. Cholkar was a poor man with a large family to support; and he could
not afford to pay for the expenses of a Shirdi trip. As Mr. Cholkar was anxious
to fulfill his vow as early as possible, he resolved to economize, cut down his
expenses and save money. He determined not to use sugar in his diet and began
to take his tea without it.
After
he was able to save some money in this way, he came to Shirdi, took Baba's
darshan (sight of a holy person), fell at His Feet, offered a coconut,
distributed it with a clean conscience along with sugar-candy as per his vow
and said to Baba that he was much pleased with His darshan and that his desires
were fulfilled that day. Mr. Cholkar was in the Masjid with his host Bapusaheb
Jog. When the host and the guest both got up and were about to leave the
Masjid, Baba spoke to Jog as follows:- "Give him (your guest) cups of tea,
fully saturated with sugar." Hearing these significant words, Mr. Cholkar
was much moved, he was wonderstruck, his eyes were bedewed with tears, and he
fell at Baba's Feet again. Mr. Jog was also curious about this direction,
regarding the tea-cups to be given to his guest. Baba wanted by His words to
create faith and devotion in Cholkar's mind. He hinted as it were, that He got
the sugar-candy as per his vow and that He knew full well his secret
determination not to use sugar in his diet. Baba meant to say, "If you
spread your palms with devotion before Me, I am immediately with you, day and
night. Though, I am here bodily, still I know what you do; beyond the seven
seas. Go wherever you will, over the wide world, I am with you. My abode is in
your heart and I am within you. Always worship Me, Who is seated in your heart,
as well as in the hearts of all beings. Blessed and fortunate indeed, is he who
knows Me thus."
Rakhi
The chaste bond of love between a brother and
a sister is one of the deepest and noblest of human emotions. 'Raksha Bandhan'
or 'Rakhi' is a special occasion to celebrate this emotional bonding by tying a
holy thread around the wrist. This thread, which pulsates with sisterly love
and sublime sentiments, is rightly called the ‘Rakhi’. It means 'a bond of
protection', and Raksha Bandhan signifies that the strong must
protect the weak from all that’s evil.
The ritual is observed on the full moon day of
the Hindu month of Shravan, on which
sisters tie the sacred Rakhi string on their brothers' right wrists, and pray
for their long life. Rakhis are ideally made of silk with gold and silver
threads, beautifully crafted embroidered sequins, and studded with semi
precious stones.
The Social Binding
This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between
brothers and sisters, but also transcends the confines of the family. When a
Rakhi is tied on the wrists of close friends and neighbours, it underscores the
need for a harmonious social life, where every individual co-exist peacefully
as brothers and sisters. All members of the community commit to protect each
other and the society in such congregational Rakhi Utsavs, popularized by the
Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.
The Friendly Knot
It won’t be wrong to say the fashionable friendship band in vogue today is an
extension of the Rakhi custom. When a girl feels a friend of the opposite sex
has developed a kind of love too strong for her to reciprocate, she sends the
guy a Rakhi and turns the relationship into a sisterly one. This is one way of
saying, "let’s just be friends", without hurting the other person's
soft feelings for her.
The Auspicious Full Moon
In Northern India, Rakhi Purnima is also called Kajri
Purnima or Kajri Navami, when wheat or barley is sown, and goddess
Bhagwati is worshipped. In Western states, the festival is called Nariyal
Purnima or the Coconut Full Moon. In Southern India, Shravan Purnima is an
important religious occasion, especially for the Brahmins.
Raksha Bandhan is known by various names: Vish Tarak -
the destroyer of venom, Punya Pradayak - the bestower of boons, and Pap
Nashak - the destroyer of sins.
Rakhi in History
The strong bond represented by Rakhi has resulted in innumerable political ties
among kingdoms and princely states. The pages of Indian history testify that
the Rajput and Maratha queens have sent Rakhis even to Mughal kings who, despite their differences,
have assuaged their Rakhi-sisters by offering help and protection at critical
moments and honoured the fraternal bond. Even matrimonial alliances have been
established between kingdoms through the exchange of Rakhis.
History has it that the great Hindu King Porus
refrained from striking Alexander, the Great because the latter’s wife had
approached this mighty adversary and tied a Rakhi on his hand, prior to the
battle, urging him not to hurt her husband.
Why Rakhi?
Rituals like Rakhi, there is no doubt, help ease out various societal strains,
induce fellow-feeling, open up channels of expression, give us an opportunity
to rework on our role as human beings and, most importantly, bring joy in our
mundane lives.
According to one mythological allusion, Rakhi was intended to be
the worship of the sea-god Varuna. Hence, offerings of coconut to Varuna,
ceremonial bathing and fairs at waterfronts accompany this festival.
There are also myths that describe the ritual as observed by Indrani and Yamuna
for their respective brothers Indra and Yama.
Once, Lord Indra stood almost vanquished in a long-drawn battle
against the demons. Full of remorse, he sought the advice of Guru Brihaspati,
who suggested for his sortie the auspicious day of Shravan Purnima (fullmoon
day of the month of Shravan). On that day, Indra's wife and Brihaspati tied a
sacred thread on the wrist of Indra, who then attacked the demon with renewed
force and routed him.
Thus the Raksha Bhandhan symbolizes all aspects of protection of the good from
evil forces. Even in the great epic Mahabharata,
we find Krishna advising Yudhishtthir to tie the puissant
Rakhi to guard himself against impending evils.
In the ancient Puranik scriptures, it is said that King Bali's
stronghold had been the Raakhi. Hence while tying the rakhi this couplet is
usually recited:
Yena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah
tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala
"I am tying a Rakhi on you, like the one
on mighty demon king Bali. Be firm, O Rakhi, do not falter."
Divya Soni
An Unforgettable Day
Editor:
This next one left my jaw dragging along the ground; I
almost fell off the chair. It is such a
nice story that I have to share it with you.
It was on a Sunday in May 1994
early morning between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. I was in bed, thinking of getting up,
then I heard the door bell. I did not want to disturb my wife who was in the
prayer room. So I went down to attend the front door. Very slowly I opened the
door and peeped out. To my sheer amazement, I saw Sri Sathya Sai Baba standing
at the door! I was flabbergasted and was unable to speak for a few seconds.
Baba understood the whole situation. He asked me, "Can I come in."
Suddenly I woke up to the reality and replied, "Come in Swami, this is
your house, you can come in," and I directed him to the prayer room
upstairs.
On our way through the steps
Swami looked back at me and told, "I want some peace and quiet and will be
staying with you for a few days."
I replied, "Swami, of
course it is your house, not mine. You can stay as long as you require."
We went straight to the prayer
room. He sat down on the carpet in between myself and my wife, though my wife
after prostrating at His feet pointed to Him His own chair on one side of the
prayer room.
We talked about our personal
life in U.K. and He asked us, "Why don't you come back to India."
Then He asked," When you have your friends from abroad, where would you
like to take them for sightseeing?"
I replied, "There are quite
a few places like Buckingham Palace, Parliament House, Trafalgar Square, Tower
of London, Tower Bridge, Madam Tussaud, etc." Then Swami said, "OK,
we will go then."
So we took Him to sightseeing
in our BMW car. We came back and got in to the house together by 10:30 a.m.
After coming into the house He
disappeared. We could not see Him afterwards. But we could feel His presence by
smell of jasmine.
Every morning we usually offer
an apple, and in the evening after dinner we would eat this apple. After a week
of Swami's disappearance, as usual we kept the apple.
In the evening we took it for
cutting and to our utter amazement we found an OM written on the apple. We kept
it for almost a year. It did not rot but, dried and turned into dust.
During those days our friends
who visited us used to comment that the house smelled like a temple. To those
who are not Sai devotees, we causally replied, "maybe the new
agarbathis..." and smiled.
This incident changed our
whole set up of life, our location of living, our life style, etc.
We decided to come back to
India as Swami wished. Within a month packed everything, lock stock and barrel
and sent it by ship to Cochin on Baba's c/o address to Whitefield. Six months
we stayed there doing some Sai service in Bangalore and Vellore, like
conducting Laksharchana, bhajan, poor feeding, etc. etc.
Sai Study Circle in Glasgow
Editor:
This is an article from Dr David Lingiah of the Glasgow Sai Centre about the
recent study circle which we had, which was about the 5 D’s:
Learning at the feet of the Master
The recent topic for our study
circle was the 5Ds. These were: Dedication, Duty, Devotion, Discrimination and
Determination. The quotation below from Sathya Sai Baba was included:
“Whatever you do, deem it as God’s work. This can be applied to
every ordinary act in daily life, whether it is sweeping the floor, or
preparing the chapattis or cutting vegetables. Everyone of these acts can be
turned into a spiritual exercise by the spirit in which you do it. To perform
every act as an offering to the Divine is true devotion.”
I suggested that although one may
develop all the five Ds without Direction (incorporating an important
element of Decision) one would be lost in confusion. Only in the
footsteps of the Master can one receive the all-important direction. Christ
says: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Baba says: My Life is my message.
The above theme led me to the
time when Jesus and his disciples were invited at Martha’s place in Luke
chapter 10;verses:38—42.: Martha’s sister, Mary sat at Jesus’s feet and
listened to what he was saying; while
Martha set about preparing chapattis to serve the visitors; but she was doing
so with much anxiety and distraction; she was troubled about many things. She
came to the room to complain to Jesus about Mary who, instead of sitting at his
feet listening to His teaching, should be told to help her in the kitchen.
Martha, like many people today, had failed to realise that what she was doing
by way of preparing food/drinks in the kitchen was very useful sadhana too if
it was being done with love and devotion as Swami advised.
Gandhi instructed his wife on the
need to clean the latrine; she objected as she thought it was a job too low for
her; below her dignity as the wife of a great leader. Soon she was made to see
sense in carrying out this important activity from her husband’s teaching and
his final intention. No job is too menial if it is approached with the right
attitude; work is worship. In fact Swami has pointed out that: “Whatever the
nature of your work, if you dedicate it as an offering to God, you will have no
worry at all. It is love in a pure heart that transforms work into worship.”
Mary sat at the lotus feet of the
Lord and listened to His words, his teachings. Sathwick listening is the
listening to the stories, glories and messages of saints and sages; this
listening will cleanse the heart. “Good words are a man’s best kinsfolk” Be
conscious that every word we utter or hear will leave an impression on our
consciousness, and provoke reactions which may or may not be beneficial. This
is the reason why the company of God and godly people is to be sought. The is
indeed one of the nine-fold path of
devotion.
Jesus, in a very short statement, delivered a very powerful
message to Martha and the rest of Humanity, in these words: “you are troubled about many things. But
there is need of only one thing, and Mary has chosen that part which shall not
be taken away from her.”
What is the ONE THING that Mary has chosen? She had made the
wise Decision to sit and listen to the words of the Master. From there she
would go forth to apply the teachings in her daily activities of life and quite
possibly help to transform the lives of many others with whom she came in
contact. A more productive servant, a true devotee of her master.
Her sister, Martha was distracted by too many cares and
concerns, seeing the preparation of some food and drink for her invited
distinguished guests as a chore, a task she did not take pleasure in doing; she
had failed to grasp the opportunity being offered at that time to learn that
even though she was involved in so doing she was actually serving the Lord with
the same love and devotion as the her sister, sitting and listening to the
message that brings spiritual transformation.
However, Martha did not lose out; Christ made sure that the words He
directed at Martha had the desired effect. She had learned a deep secret in the
message: “Whatever you do, deem it as God’s work. This can be applied to every
ordinary act in daily life, whether it is sweeping the floor, or preparing the
chapattis or cutting vegetables. Everyone of these acts can be turned into a
spiritual exercise by the spirit in which you do it. To perform every act as an
offering to the Divine is true devotion.”
Learn at the feet of the Lord
Pray at the Cross of Calvary.
Only one thing is needful;
My cup is full, says Mary
Come ye, O faithful
The table is set, says Martha
Come and dine with the Lord
Dr David Lingiah, Glasgow
A CONVERSATION WITH SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
Editor: The following conversation
between a devotee and Sai Baba took place in Prashanti Nilayam many years ago
and was first published in an early issue of the Sanathana Sarathi, the official
ashram magazine. This one took me awhile to read but it was worth It.
Devotee: Swami! The
world is very cruel to me.
Sai Baba: That is its
nature. The purpose of the world is frustration; it has to engender need. When
the need is strong enough, the individual seeks fulfilment.
Devotee: And fails!
Sai Baba: Only when
he seeks fulfilment without! Within him, he can get it. The within is
accessible always; it is ever responsible. There is pain only so long as
attachment for outer forms remains. Ultimate relief from pain can come only
with the loss of ego, the neutralisation of that which reacts to something as
pain and something else as pleasure, whose memory, whose conditioning, helps to
recognise the dualities of joy and grief.
Devotee: But the
world, Swami?
Sai Baba: The world
is pain. Expect nothing from the world but that. I willed the totality of your
conditioned existence to be pain, in order to draw you to me.
Devotee: Which I can,
at best, only hope to attain.
Sai Baba: God asks
for neither hope nor despair. They are subject to relativity. Universal Being
is beyond both hope and despair, both certainty and doubt. It knows no
lingering in its conclusions. It is ever flowing, in all directions, and in
none of them.
Devotee: What then
shall be my direction?
Sai Baba: Take what
works today for today. What works tomorrow for tomorrow. One day at a time,
each day for itself, each moment for itself, without a past, without memory,
without conclusions.
Devotee: Conclusions?
Sai Baba: Yes.
Conclusions bind; they press on the mind. The newborn baby is not confined to
conclusions. All conclusions enslave. Most men are slaves to the conclusions
into which they have fallen.
Devotee: Does that
mean I have to give up my practice of concentration?
Sai Baba: The question
that bothers you is one of fixity. You tried to fix your thought and attention
on a word and later on a form, but you discovered that nothing lasts, that
everything has to change. But I tell you; awareness can remain, even when form
subsides, even when the word melts away.
Devotee: I find it
difficult to hold my attention on form or word.
Sai Baba: Because
when you try to meditate, the very trial invites the success-failure conflict
onto the scene. You say to yourself, it is good to meditate on this and not
that, or to meditate on that is wrong or foolish. Practise choicelessness; no
objective, no intention. Be yourself. Choose no particular form, for all are
equally His. Choose no particular word or sound, for all are His.
Devotee: I am often
tossed between contradictory beliefs.
Sai Baba:
Contradictions are inevitable. It is the very nature of this world and of the
mind. But you can choose, either to be buffeted endlessly by the apparent
contradictions or to remain in the calm centre of the cyclone. This is the
problem of all problems, the problem of peripheral or central being.
Devotee: The
circumference or the centre, the rim or the hub of the wheel?
Sai Baba: Yes. The
hub is calm, steady, unmoved. But the mind will be drawn along the spokes, the
objective desires, to revolve over mud and stone, sand and thorns. It will not
believe that it can get bliss from the centre, rather than from the
circumference, without undergoing a rough journey over turbulent terrain.
Devotee: Ultimately,
it means the conquest of the mind?
Sai Baba: Learn to
let all the conflicts spawned by the mind play themselves out, and cancel each
other out. Be the witness to the holocaust. The ultimate solution to the
conflict is not decision or even choice, but passive being. Dare to remain
inconclusive. See the endless quandaries of the mind as a divine leela, God's
sport, as the natural function of the bundle of desires called mind. Do not
believe in mind; do not rally to its assertions and appetites. Watch the mind
from a distance; do not get involved in its tumblings and turnings. Then
everything becomes insignificant. When everything recedes into meaninglessness,
you are in the hub, in equanimity.
Devotee: Swami, you
are the hub, the spokes and the rim.
Sai Baba: Do not be concerned
with who I am! Concern yourself with who you are and how you can be ever aware
of that truth. Do not be a willing captive of the endless stratagems of the
mind. Abstain from all that draws you into its web. I will lead you, if you
rely on me. The alternatives of the world will not bring you happiness, for the
mind, which revels in alternatives, is but a will-of-the-wisp, flitting before
your vision. I do not judge you for what is never yours, really. Your
imperfection is no obstacle for me.
Devotee: I confess
that I have not always observed the rules of conduct of the Sathya Sai
Organisation.
Sai Baba: Your mind
keeps asking for rules. But when you get the rules, you find you cannot keep
them. Rules engender rigidity, they force. They do not bloom out of love or
spread love. There is always a way of doing a thing without the strain of a
rule. See how unperturbed I am with your restlessness! I live thus, so that I
may afford a lesson for you to learn.
Devotee: I am
restless, Swami, because I yearn for rest and do not get it.
Sai Baba: It is your
reaction to restlessness that is bad, not the restlessness itself. Restlessness
is only the rise and fall of a wave on the ocean that you are. Nothing matters,
so long as the depths are secure. Success is not important: failure does not
matter. The river of eternity is flowing ever into the ocean of the Supreme
Will.
Devotee: How long am
I to be torn apart from that Supreme Will?
Sai Baba: You are a
fraction of that Supreme Will. That is why you are afflicted with the hunger to
seek It and to merge in It and to find fulfilment and bliss thereby. Turning to
the world for solace and sustenance to appease that hunger has been tried by
countless generations, including your own, but the hunger is gnawing still.
Devotee: What then is
the proper reaction to the attractions of the world?
Sai Baba: Let go.
Don't cling. Be still. Establish yourself in the homelessness of the mind;
physical homelessness will not earn the victory. There are many spiritual
aspirants still caught in the coils of greed, envy, pride and power seeking.
They have not escaped from their homes. They have built prisons around
themselves. I describe homelessness of the mind as mind abiding nowhere.
Devotee: And
wandering everywhere?
Sai Baba: Do not exclude
anything. Be the witness of everything. The exclusive cannot endure. God is
all. Your restlessness came from exclusion, the pressure exerted by the
excluded into the area from which it was excluded. All is God; how can you push
God out of His Domain? Your mind concludes that the cause for the restlessness
is whatever concerns it at the time. The actual cause is not that. You limit
God by your assumptions, hence the restlessness. For you too are divine, and
your reality protests against that limitation.
Devotee: Swami!
Sometimes I feel so sad that I am so strange, so different in habits from the
rest of those that come to you for succour.
Sai Baba: If your
path contrasts entirely with those around you, believe that it is my will for
you. Every way is my way and ways seemingly indirect may be the most direct for
some spiritual seekers. For me there are no impossible cases, no incorrigible
cases. Practise choicelessness as hitherto prescribed. Choicelessness is
constant contentment.
Questioner: Swami, I
am addicted to tea drinking, which hurts me. How can I stop this practice?
Sai Baba: Heaven is
not refused to those who drink tea! A rajasic person is rendered hyperactive by
tea, but to an invalid it is a welcome lift. But do not adore tea as the only
reality. Now with regard to these habits that have gripped you, there are two
methods by which you can discard them. The first is deprivation, denial. This
can yield only temporary success. When one's determination relaxes, the habit
reasserts itself and it becomes difficult to resist. The second method is to
become so absorbed in something far more pleasing that the habit falls off by
itself. Remember, what is transient is not important. What is important is
eternal. My prescriptions are varied; they differ from person to person, from
stage to stage, even in the case of the same person. All prescriptions work.
Let people come to me through Bhajan, through Japa, through Meditation, through
Mantras, through Tantra or Seva as I ordain. Every one will come to me; everyone
has to come to me. There are no exceptions.
Devotee: We rely on
your grace Swami, we yearn for it. Make us aware of it.
Sai Baba: I never
asked you to earn me. I want only that you should need me. Your path is not one
of merit. Bring the recurring desires of your mind to me, every time they
emerge. They cannot shock me, for I willed them! Bring me your confusion, your
fear, your craving, your anxiety, your inability to love the world, your
hesitation to serve, your jealousy, all the deficiencies that defy your
spiritual disciplines.
Devotee: How are we
to do seva if we feel the urge to do so? What if the urge is absent?
Sai Baba: There are
many ways to serve the world. You can serve, if not actively, at least by your
serenity. Everyone need not do all things. Your Western heritage reveres active
work. But if your being tends towards serenity and solitude, take it as the
best. Do not be sorry for it. Only a small minority can delight in serenity and
remain still. God has willed it so, otherwise, how could the world function? If
stillness is your destiny, dare to be so. If you are a recluse, be a recluse,
but a recluse with me. You may not be a saint, but you can peacefully be
nothing. Let each be as he is, remembering, however, his source and his reality.
None is as he is but for me.
Devotee: I have yet
much to learn.
Sai Baba: You wish to
learn from me. Well, if you are preoccupied by the body's needs, by the
arrangements for its travelling, its accommodation and the food it demands,
time will fly. That student learns best and fastest who does not spend his time
constantly shifting from one classroom to the next. You will learn everything
worth knowing in my classroom. I will expose you to all states of being, so
that you may learn to rest in me in all of them. There are no insurmountable
obstacles to me; there are no pre-requisites for me. I am unconditional.
Devotee: But you are
absent so often and away for so long at your headquarters.
Sai Baba: Always, at every time, at every
place, I am where you need me. All things without are subject to the limitation
of time and space, to the material laws of Nature. My outer form is no
exception! If you would perceive my physical form, it must come within the
range of your gaze, so position yourself so that you can see it. And even then,
it may not gaze at you. But, I am omnipresent! The limitations of the body and
the outer senses do not hold for the inner vision. Therein, you can see me at
any time and any place and receive darshan. The outer vision is purposely
insufficient, instantaneous, transitory, casual, so that you may crave for and
accomplish the inner darshan. If I have separated you from my physical image
off and on, it was only to bring you to me and to establish my presence within
you. That alone will replenish you and refresh you, I know. None of my absences
was a rejection or rebuke. So far as you are concerned, I intended them all.
And, always, I willed that you return to me.
The Last Word: 10 Things God Won’t Ask
Editor: This quote was e-mailed to me
by a friend, if you have already read it then I apologise, but for me it really
opened my eyes to what I have been doing wrong in my life.
1...God won't ask what kind of car you drove,
He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
2...God won't ask the square footage of your house,
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet,
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
4. God won't ask what your highest salary was;
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
5...God won't ask what your job title was;
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6...God won't ask how many friends you had;
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7...God won't ask in what neighbourhood you lived,
He'll ask how you treated your neighbours.
8...God won't ask about the colour of your skin,
He'll ask about the content of your character.
9...God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation;
He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the
gates of Hell.
10...God won't ask how many people you forwarded this to,
He'll ask if you were ashamed to pass it on to your friends
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
editor sharan soni team
divya soni, parag agarwal