Sai Baba Gita - Behind Jealousy and Hatred is Egoism

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Behind Jealousy and Hatred is Egoism

There was a devout religious man who took great joy in cultivating a garden full

of beautiful flowers and fruits. Even though he was steeped in spiritual

knowledge, he had developed a strong touch of egoism within him. The moment

egoism developed, jealousy also entered. When egoism and jealousy make their

appearance, hatred automatically joins them. God took a personal interest in

this errant devotee. God saw that this person, although he had all the proper

religious outer trappings, had nevertheless, filled his heart with poison. God

decided to correct him by teaching him a lesson. The Lord manifested himself in

the form of an old mendicant and took a stroll by that garden.

The old mendicant went to a recently planted tree and greatly extolled the

beauty of that tree. Noticing the garden owner nearby he asked him, "Who is the

gardener responsible for cultivating such a fine tree?" The proud owner puffed

himself up and said, "Sir, it is I who have brought up this entire garden. I

grew this tree and I raised all the other trees that you see here, as well. By

my own efforts I developed all these pleasing paths and made this beautiful

garden. I alone look after everything here. There is no hired gardener. I am

the one who draws the water. I spread the manure. I pull the weeds and I remove

the pests. I clean the paths. I am developing these beautiful flowers and

fruits, doing all these things for the sake of giving joy to others." In this

way he went on repeating I... I... I.

Appearing to appreciate the beauty of the garden, the old mendicant continued to

dwell there for awhile, while the owner busied himself nearby, grooming his

garden. After some time the mendicant left. A little bit later a cow entered

the garden. She was so weak that she was about to fall and destroy the plants

that were there under her body. The owner of the garden saw that this cow was

about to spoil his beautiful garden. So he took a small stick and threw it at

the cow to chase her out. But the moment the stick touched the cow, the cow

fell down and died. Now, in his religion, cows are considered very sacred, and

should never be molested or harmed. Having thrown the stick from which the cow

dropped dead, he would now have to suffer the great sin of killing a cow. He

was aghast at this terrible turn of events.

It was not very long afterwards that the same old mendicant came back into the

garden. Walking along the path where the cow had strayed, he saw the dead cow

and was shocked. He sought out the owner and urged him to quickly come to the

spot. The mendicant asked, "Who killed this cow? Who committed this outrage?"

When the owner did not answer immediately, the old mendicant asked more

directly, "Tell me, do you know who killed this cow?" The owner replied,

"Surely it was the will of God. Without the will of the Lord, would she have

died just like that? Unless she was meant to die, would she fall down and

expire just because a little stick touched her?"

The moment the old mendicant heard this he told the man, "Previously you told me

how it was you alone who was responsible for raising this whole garden, how you

alone planted and nurtured all these plants and put in all the paths. You were

taking credit for all the good things that have happened here. But for anything

that is wrong and inauspicious you put the blame on God. You are an arrogant,

self-serving fool, so puffed up with your own importance that you won't even

acknowledge the Creator's hand in bringing forth all the beauty that is here.

You are taking credit for that which belongs to God. You are even jealous of

God. If not for the will of God, there would be nothing in your garden."

At this point, the old mendicant revealed his true identity. He said, "I am the

Lord himself. I have come to destroy your egoism." The erring devotee fell at

the Lord's feet in contrition. The devotee realized how ego had stolen into

him, had gained a foothold, and then had completely taken him over. Now, he

understood the deeper meaning of the spiritual teachings that he had been

mouthing for so long. He realized that everything is imbued with the divinity,

and therefore, he should see the divinity everywhere and live his life with the

knowledge that down to the minutest detail, everything is under the control of

the divinity.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita249.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

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