Live
in Love
'Come
with empty hands and carry away My
Love'
"Some wear a
provocative twinkle of a skilled dialectician,
or have a raised brow of pedantry. They are too
keen to decry others advertising themselves.
They are like vultures flying high only to seek
carrion over a wider circle," writes an aspirant
who went around India seeking a Guru. Paul
Brunton was advised to pray every day to God so
that he may be led to the Man in whom God is at
present incarnated. The Incarnation comes down
through Love, and so, the mark of the
Incarnation is above all, Love.
Try and see
yourself in all, then you will not love one
person more and another less, realizing that
they are both yourself. When love is shared
peace reigns. All worldly relationships are
based on the principle of give and take. The
highest form of love is expressed between a
devotee and God, the devotee being intent on
merging with Divinity. Thereupon love flows
towards everything and every being. According to
Baba, God is Love; the lover is the individual,
and the beloved, is nature. Knowing fully well
that nature is under the complete control of
God, why be under its spell? Realizing God's
prevalence everywhere let us learn to love the
Creator, since creation is nothing but His
manifestation. Baba says that we should direct
all our thoughts towards God. But we cannot do
so until our minds are under control. It is only
through protracted practice that we can succeed
in living in God, that is, in Love through His
Grace. Almost everything that goes wrong in the
relationship of man with man, goes wrong because
the self-impulses outweigh the altruistic
impulses, or because we overvalue the
satisfaction of appetite and undervalue the
satiation of our spiritual hunger. True
happiness for human beings is possible only to
those who develop their Godlike potentialities
to the utmost.
This is the
way to God, known as the path of Love. In the
Gîtâ, [BG
: 9-34]
the Lord said,
"The Lord, O Arjuna, is seated in the hearts of
all beings; fix your mind on Me, be devoted to
Me, sacrifice to Me, prostrate before Me, so
shall you come to
Me."
You have no reason to fear God, for love
transcends doubt and fear. Love God as a
companion, and respect Him, as a devotee must.
Baba becomes childlike in the company of
children, a scholar among scholars, a doctor
among doctors, out of His Love, for He wants to
put everyone at ease.
Feeding the
poor, service to those in jails, visiting the
deaf and the dumb, the blind, leprosariums,
mental hospitals, these have been laid down by
Him as the highest Sadhana.
"When
you sit for
Japam
or Dhyana,
if you hear one groan, rise and investigate.
Helping the person to get rid of the pain gives
you more spiritual merit than the Dhyana you
miss."
Baba's love
for his devotees is expressed in many ways. Once
at Dharmakshetra there was a gathering of
teachers of the
Bal Vikas
in Sathyadeep. After the meeting commenced, the
Bhajan
party from below the hill was also invited to
join. Hurrying up the steep incline many were
short of breath, but one elderly lady seemed to
suffer a great deal. Baba made her sit down
leaning against the wall, under a fan. Then He
disappeared for a moment, only to reappear with
a glass of water which He gave the lady to
drink. He cannot tolerate any one standing in
the sun waiting for
Darsan
and is bothered when, due to rain, devotees are
drenched. During the hot summer months, Baba
allows the Prayer Hall at the
Nilayam
to be used by old or sick women to sleep in. It
is Love that prompts Him to distribute sweets to
each individual Himself, though there be
thousands present, and to eat ever simple food,
so that even the poorest person may offer Him
hospitality.
The practical
application of Love is clearly seen also as Baba
walks gracefully between lines of people, who
wait patiently, to be selected, for a private
interview. Ailing children are picked out for a
special blessing; they are spoken to or given
Vibhuti!
The sick, the aged, the socially spurned and
economically backward are all dearly loved by
Him and cared for. He uses a Telugu proverb to
assure you that however far you may sit, or
however many the number of people around you, He
will spot and bless, provided your prayer is
sincere. He says, "You
are of the Sai Body - be happy that you are a
limb - do not complain that you are only the
foot, or be proud that you are the head, for it
is the same blood stream of Love that circulates
and sustains
both!"
When people come to Him, pathetically crippled,
unable to bend and touch His Feet, He raises a
Foot so that it can confer the healing balm of
peace! "I
always anticipate the prayer, the moment of
calamity for my Bhakthas,
and I intercede in time to help them or save
them,"
He says.
He has spoken
of the Seed of Love planted in the heart of men,
sprouting in the family, spreading over kith and
kin, the village, the community and finally
bringing under its shade the whole of mankind.
When teaching meditation, He directs the
concentration on the flame or candle or lamp as
the best.
"Imagine
the flame in the middle of the brow, imagine
the light entering the cave of the heart and
illuminating it. Let this Light destroy all
hate, greed and ego, and let it flood your
entire being. Then let it emanate from you
and take into its fold wider and wider
circles, embracing all mankind - all beings
you regard as friendly, and even those you
have set aside as unfriendly."
[See:
Jyoti
Meditation]
Years ago Baba
stayed for a few days at Horsley Hills, which is
3800 ft. above sea level. Twice a day He would
take us to some beauty spot where we could
peacefully learn from Him spiritual matters. Our
little camp situated as it was amid the hills
was inaccessible except by jeep; so our food and
water for drinking had to be hauled up by the
villagers from the small hamlet at the foot of
the hills; for other purposes a buffalo at the
bungalow helped to transport water from a well,
in skin bags slung across its back! This quiet
sylvan beauty was enjoyed by all, and we were
privileged to share it with Baba. Then came the
day when we had to break camp and return. Baba
proposed that we walk down together. He
suggested that we try and see who could run down
the fastest! Baba interrupted, saying, "Wait, I
will be back in a minute," and went into the
garden. Some of us quietly followed Him, and
found Him taking leave of the buffalo! He patted
it affectionately saying,
"You
have done Me good service,
Bangaroo,"
(a term of great affection, meaning
Gold)
Baba is kind
to all who serve Him in and through all, even in
the littlest way. In the village of Bikkatti in
the Nilgiri Hills lived a lame dog called
Kuttan,
meaning 'the
lame one'.
He was a very old loving dog, yet alert where
strangers were concerned. Baba on visiting the
village in 1962, walked down the carpets laid
out for Him.
Kuttan
strained at the leash by which he was held lest
he bounce on Baba! But Baba stopped and patted
him and asked that he be let loose saying,
"Bangaroo! Leave him alone, he is a pure
atma."
So Kuttan followed Baba up the dais, sat and
listened to the Bhajans,
and later followed Him into the kitchen where
Baba, after blessing the food, asked that
Kuttan
be fed first! When he finished his meal he
walked up the decorated dais and stood beside
Baba's chair, watching the long lines of
villagers having their food. After a while
Kuttan
placed his head upon 'Baba's footstool' and,
within a few minutes breathed his last.
Everyone
felt that he was a pure soul; he was buried near
the dais, in a flower-shroud. Baba has had many
pets - dogs, rabbits, peacocks, and now the
elephant
Sai Gita
who adores her Master so much that, should He be
away for long, she sheds tears! If stray dogs
are led away from the Nilayam so that the
silence of the place may not be disturbed by
their barking, instructions are issued that they
be taken to a place where food is
available.
He asks,
"Of
what avail is it to simply worship My Name and
My Form, without attempting to cultivate My
Samathwa - equal love towards all, Santhi -
unruffled equanimity, Prema - love, Sahana -
patience and fortitude, and Ananda - blissful
nature! I sing
Bhajans
after every discourse for your sake, not Mine,
so as to enable you to become aware of the
sweetness of the Name, which cleanses the mind,
by which you can realize that God is ever with
you in your physical and spiritual
being."
God has, it is
said, two types of deluding powers,
Avidyamaya
and Vidyamaya.
Sometimes His
Maya
makes us feel that He is a mere human, and we
partake of acts which inflate the ego, making us
feel important and all powerful. The fog of
pride hides the Reality. This is
Avidya.
When we submit to His Will, He shows signs and
wonders that make us eager to follow the right
path. This is Vidyamaya,
from which we learn that it is in Him we live
and move and have our being. 'He' and 'we' are
one. Only thus do we cleanse and purify our
attitudes, habits and judgements, and discover
God in His true Manifestation, that is, as
living in all things created. The recognition
that we and others are mere puppets in His hands
will be imprinted on our consciousness through
the meaningful recitation of His Name; then we
start dwelling in Him, through Him, and for
Him.
People from
all parts of the world who have had the
privilege of being near His Lotus Feet try to
remodel their lives, change their world view,
and their sense of values. This silent
psychological revolution affecting
lakhs
of people illustrates the Gift of Grace. The
real Sadhana,
according to Baba, is to rake up the field of
our heart and to cultivate in it the most
valuable crop we can. The heart is the field,
and in that field we have overgrown valueless
weeds. Keep waters of love for the seeds. Then
plough it with Sadhana. Those seeds will grow up
and give us the crop of Jnana.
Shirdi
Sai watering plants...
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