Sai Service Newsletter - 27

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SAI SERVICE Newsletter – 27

Issue 10-10-2002

 

This Thursday's Message: (Baba said)

 

I am in the water, in dry places, in woods, amidst crowds, and in the

solitary wilderness. I am in the fire and in ether. I am not limited

to any place.

 

a. Baba's Talk with Devotees

 

 

HOW BABA MADE DAS GANU EAT ONION

 

The orthodox Das Ganu Maharaj dislike onions.

 

Baba (to Das ganu): Prepare Pitla, sauce of onions. Give me a part

and eat the rest of it.

 

Das Ganu: Yes.

 

Next day prepared the onion dish and touched the onion with the tip

of a finger and drew the finger near the nether lip as a token of

tasting and then washed his finers and face. then he went to baba.

 

Baba: Have you eaten onions?

 

Das Ganu: Yes.

 

Baba: He pretends he eats, but only touches it with his finer and

brings the finger near lip.

Baba actually showed what DG did.

 

Baba: Ganu, you must really eat onion and not pretend.

 

Das Ganu: Yes.

 

Das Ganu was eating onion at Shirdi (as long as Baba was alive) on

ordinary days, i.e., except on Ekadasi Day.

 

 

b. Divine Dews from our Sadguru

 

 He who attains the supreme goal of life is immortal and happy, all=

 

others merely exist, i.e. live so long as they breathe. (SSS Ch.XVIII

& XIX)

 

 He who rests in Her shade, gets Bliss. (SSS Ch.XXII)

 

 No quest can be successfully carried out on an empty stomach. (SSS=

 

Ch.XXXII)

 

 I never ask any one, indiscriminately(SSS Ch. XXXV)

 

 Leaving out pride and egoism and with no trace of them, you should=

 

surrender yourself to Me, Who is seated in your heart. (SSS Ch. XLIII)

 

 

 

c. Weekly Article:

 

A LITTLE PARABLE ABOUT MOTHERS

-Temple Bailey

 

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.

 

"Is the way long?" she asked. And the guide said, `Yes. And the way

is hard. And you will be old before your reach the end of it, but the

end will be better than the beginning."

 

But the young mother was happy, and she could not believe that

anything could be better than these years. So she played with her

children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed

with them in the clear streams; and the young mother cried, "Nothing

will ever be lovelier than this."

 

Then night came, and storm, and the path was dark, and the children

shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered

them with her mantle, and the children said, `Mother, we are not

afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come." And the mother said,

"This is better than the brightness of day, for I have taught my

children courage."

 

And the morning came, and there was hill ahead, and the children

climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary, but at all times

she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there." So

the children climbed and when they reached the top they said: Mother,

we would not have done it without you."

 

And the mother, when she lay down that night, looked up at the stars

and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have

learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them

courage. Today I have given them strength."

 

And the next day came strange clouds, which darkened the earth-clouds

of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and

the mother said, "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light." And the

children looked and saw about the clouds an Everlasting Glory, and it

guided them and brought them beyond the darkness. And that night the

mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my

children god."

 

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and

the mother grew old, and was a little bent. But her children were

tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was hard,

they helped their mother; and when the way was rough, they lifted

her; for she was as light as a feather, and at last they came to a

hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung

wide.

 

And the mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I

know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can

walk alone, and their children after them." And the children said,

"You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone

through the gates."

 

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates

closed after her. And they said, "We cannot see her, but she is with

us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living

presence."

(Courtesy: The Mira, May 2002)

 

Kindly relate the above story with our Divine Mother Baba and

consider ourselves as Her children. Through all stages of our life,

Baba is protecting us, guiding us, living with us during the journey.

It is foremost duty of grown up children to show our gratitude to the

Divine Mother, by following Her advice, and taking Her message to

light up the darkened world, and instill glowing ray of hope in the

minds of billions in this world.

 

- N. Sivanandam, Coimbatore, India.

 

e. Baba's Help:

 

HOW TO CONQUER SEX PASSION

 

Besides Contentment, Renunciation and Surrender many other lessons

were taught by Baba to Nana. For example, the conquest of the six

internal enemies, the attraction of woman and wealth, anger,

covetousness, delusion, pride, and jealousy – was pressed home and

Baba even inflicted light punishments or rebuke for the neglect of

lessons imparted.

 

One day as Nana was seated by Baba's side, a young Muslim lady

unveiled her face and placed it on Baba's feet and in a few seconds

resumed her veil. But her face was one of rare beauty and Nana Saheb

was so much smitten with her beauty that he wished very much to see

her face once more. At once Baba slapped him on the thigh and after

the lady left the premises asked Nana, if he knew the reason for the

slap on the thigh.

 

THE INNER BEAUTY:

 

Nana: How can I hide anything from the Omniscience of my Guru? But I

do not understand how such low thoughts should sway my mind when I am

in your immediate presence.

 

Baba: You are a man after all, are you not? The body is swayed by

desires, which spring up as soon as a sense-object approaches within

sight. But are there not many lovely and well coloured temples? Do we

go there to admire the exterior or to see and worship the God within?

When you are seeing God, does your mind care for the outside beauty?

God is to be seen in every object as much as in temples. Seeing a

human form we have not to busy ourselves with the exterior beauty or

ugliness but only to concentrate on the form and nature of God. There

is no harm in looking at the exterior. But that must be accompanied

by reverential awe at the power of God to produce such beautiful

bodies and by a desire to see how God resides therein and admire His

beauty. Nana, if you had thought on these lines, no desire to have a

second look at the young lady's face would have crept into you. Bear

this in mind.

 

A REMARKABLE LADY SAINT:

 

Nana did keep this lesson in mind and he had a good opportunity to

manifest his reverence for a very beautiful Muslim lady, named Bannu

Mayi. She was aged only about twenty but was in a highly advanced

spiritual condition. Leaving her mother at her home in Bhodegaon, she

would be roaming stark-naked everywhere and often concealed herself

in prickly pear bushes. There were plenty of thorns embedded in her

body and she never cared to extract them. She did not care for meals

or sleep. Her mother and other villagers believed her to be insane.

Only a few believed her to be a Saint. Nana Saheb was one of the few.

He knew that it was a hard feat to get her to sit a while and receive

his worship. So he went to Baba and wanted his permission and

blessings for the success of his enterprise. Baba first pointed out

that there was no need to go and see that saint; seeing that Nana was

persistent and pure in his intention, blessed him with the assurance

that he would succeed in getting the lady's darsan.

 

AMONG THE THORNS:

 

Nana Saheb went up to the saint's village and made a vigorous search

for her and numerous enquiries about her whereabouts, all to no

purpose. Nay, the inquiries were resented by some villagers who could

not appreciate such inquiries about that naked lady. Nana was getting

hopeless of success. He closed his eyes in prayer to Baba. As soon as

he opened his eyes, there in front of him, on the road stood Bannu

Mayi. He fell at her feet and tried to extract some thorns. But the

impatient saint ran away into some prickly pear bushes where he could

not follow her; and she disappeared. Nana Saheb had taken with him a

companion who tired to induce him to get back to Ahmednagar. But Nana

had planned a large programme of service. He had put up a tent and

laced within it all accessories for a warm bath including warm water,

scented oil, soap nut powder, a new saree, a bodice, a neck-string

with a bit of gold in it, (Mangala Sutra), etc., He relied on Baba's

blessings and prayed to Baba again.

 

STRANGE APPEARANCE:

 

In an instant, the saint returned and without any invitation entered

the tent, had her bath and wore the clothes and the ornament. Nana

Saheb fell at her feet and worshipped her. Instantly she got up,

flung away all drapery and ornament and disappeared. News spread in

the village about this marvellous transformation of Bannu Mayi into a

well-clad and bedecked lady; and her mother came up and saw the tent

and the articles. She then poured the vials of her wrath on the

devoted head of Nana, convinced that he could have no other than low

and sordid desires in approaching her daughter, and she disbelieved

the statement that the transformation was due to Baba's power.

Anyhow, she was placated by being allowed to take away all the

articles presented to and discarded by her daughter.

 

Nana Saheb retired for rest and refreshment to a temple in that

village. He bolted the door of the sanctuary room from within and

spent his night alone with the image. Early morning he prayed Baba

(with closed eyes) that before he left the village in the morning he

might be granted one more opportunity to worship the lady saint. As

soon as he opened his eyes there sat Bannu Mayi within the bolted

sanctuary, into which it was impossible for any ordinary human being

to enter. Nana worshipped the saint and she disappeared.

 

 

Publisher's Note:

 

THE SOLE PURPOSE of this newsletter is to present Sai messages and

other spiritual messages to the interested devotees on Thursdays.

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your interested associates.

 

In this newsletter, wherever the sources of the articles not

mentioned, please consider these items are taken from H H Pujyasri B

V Narasimha Swamiji's books.

 

Mailing Address: Vasuki Mahal Shri Shirdi Saibaba Trust, Vasuki Mahal

Compound, Gandhi Nagar, Edayar Palayam, Coimbatore 641025, India. e-

mail to: essgee.

 

IT HAS BEEN DECIDED TO DISCONTINUE THE ISSUE OF THIS WEEKLY

NEWSLETTER WITH EFFECT FROM VIJAYA DASAMI DAY.