The Milestone Speech - A Treasure to be cherished in mind and heart for all Sai devotees and for the whole world

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The Milestone Speech - A Treasure to be cherished in mind and heart for

all Sai devotees and for the whole world

Mon, 5 Aug 2002 10:35:06 +0530

Om Sri Sai Ram

The Milestone Speech – A Treasure to be cherished in mind and heart for

all Sai devotees and for the whole world

Forty-Third Birthday Discourse, 23 November 1968.(Appears in Sai Baba - Holy Man

and the Psychiatrist, by Samuel Sandweiss.)

[iN THIS DISCOURSE, SWAMI SPEAKS FOR ALMOST THE FIRST TIME IN A MAJOR DISCOURSE

ABOUT HIS BEING THE AVATHAR AND PROCLAIMS HIS MISSION ON EARTH: THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.]

For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evildoers and for

establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I incarnate from age to age.

Whenever disharmony (asanthi) overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in

human form to establish the modes of earning peace (Prashanthi) and to

reeducate the human community in the paths of peace. At the present time,

strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, the

society, the religions, the cities, and the state.

The arrival of the Lord is also anxiously awaited by saints and sages. Spiritual

aspirants (Sadhus) prayed and I have come. My main tasks are fostering of the

Vedas (Hindu scriptures) and fostering of the devotees. Your virtue, your

self-control, your detachment, your faith, and your steadfastness: these are

the signs by which people read of my glory. You can lay claim to be a devotee

only when you have placed yourself in my hands fully and completely with no

trace of ego. You can enjoy the bliss through the experience the Avathar

confers. The Avathar behaves in a human way so that mankind can feel kinship,

but rises into his superhuman heights so that mankind can aspire to reach the

heights, and through that aspiration actually reach him. Realizing the Lord

within you as the motivator is the task for which he comes in human form.

Avathars like Rama and Krishna had to kill one or more individuals who could be

identified as enemies of the righteous (dharmic) way of life, and thus restore

the practice of virtue. But now there is no one fully good, so who deserves the

protection of God? All are tainted by wickedness, so who will survive if the

Avathar decides to uproot? Therefore, I have come to correct the intelligence

(Buddhi), by various means. I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand

by as a friend and well wisher to all, so that they may give up evil

propensities and, recognizing the straight mark, tread it and reach the goal. I

have to reveal to the people the worth of the Vedas, the Sastras and the

spiritual texts, which lay down the norms. If you will accept me and say,

"Yes," I too will respond and say, "Yes, yes, yes." If you deny and say "No," I

also echo "No." Come, examine, experience, have faith. This is the method of

utilizing me.

I do not mention Sai Baba in any of my discourses, but I bear the name as

Avathar of Sai Baba. I do not appreciate in the least the distinction between

the various appearances of God: Sai, Rama, Krishna, etc. I do not proclaim that

this is more important or that is less important. Continue your worship of your

chosen God along lines already familiar to you, then you will find that you are

coming nearer to me. For all names are mine, and all forms are mine. There is no

need to change your chosen God and adopt a new one when you have seen me and

heard me.

Every step in the career of the Avathar is predetermined. Rama came to feed the

roots truth (Sathya) and righteousness dharma. Krishna came to foster peace

shanthi, and love prema. Now all these four are in danger of being dried up.

That is why the present Avathar has come. The righteousness that has fled to

the forests has to be brought back into the villages and towns. The

anti-righteousness that is ruining the villages and towns must be driven back

into the jungle.

I have come to give you the key of the treasure of bliss ananda, to teach you

how to tap that spring, for you have forgotten the way to blessedness. If you

waste this time of saving yourselves, it is just your fate. You have come to

get from me tinsel and trash, the petty little cures and promotions, worldly

joys and comforts. Very few of you desire to get from me the thing that I have

come to give you: namely, liberation itself. Even among these few, those who

stick to the path of spiritual practice (sadhana) and succeed are a handful.

Your worldly intelligence cannot fathom the ways of God. He cannot be recognized

by mere cleverness of intelligence. You may benefit from God, but you cannot

explain him. Your explanations are merely guesses, attempts to cloak your

ignorance in pompous expressions. Bring something into your daily practice as

evidence of your having known the secret of the higher life from me. Show that

you have greater brotherliness. Speak with more sweetness and self-control.

Bear defeat as well as victory with calm resignation, I am always aware of the

future and the past as well as the present of every one of you, so I am not so

moved by mercy. Since I know the past, the background, the reaction is

different. It is your consequence of evil deliberately done in the previous

birth, so I allow your suffering to continue, often modified by some little

compensation. I do not cause either joy or grief. You are the designer of both

these chains that bind you. I am the embodiment of bliss (Ananda Swarupa).

Come, take bliss (ananda) from me, dwell on that bliss, and be full of peace

(shanthi).

My acts are the foundations on which I am building my work, the task for which I

have come. All the miraculous acts, which you observe, are to be interpreted so.

The foundation for a dam requires a variety of materials. Without these it will

not last and hold back the waters. An incarnation of the Lord has to be used in

various ways by man for his uplift.

The Lord has no intention to publicize himself. I do not need publicity, nor

does any other Avathar of the Lord. What are you daring to publicize? Me? What

do you know about me? You speak one thing about me today and another tomorrow.

Your faith has not become unshakable. You praise me when things go well and

blame me when things go wrong. When you start publicity you descend to the

level of those who compete in collecting plenty by decrying others and

extolling themselves.

Where money is calculated, garnered or exhibited to demonstrate one's

achievements, I will not be present. I come only where sincerity and faith and

surrender are valued. Only inferior minds will revel in publicity and

self-aggrandizement. These have no relevance in the case of Avathars. Avathars

need no advertisement.

The establishment of righteousness (dharma): that is my aim. The teaching of

dharma, the spread of dharma: that is my object. These miracles, as you call

them, are just a means toward that end. Some of you remark that Ramakrishna

Paramahamsa (an Indian saint) said that yogic powers (siddhis) are obstructions

in the path of the spiritual aspirant (Sadhaka) Yes, yogic powers may lead the

spiritual aspirant astray. Without being involved in them he has to keep

straight on. His ego will bring him down if he yields to the temptation of

demonstrating his yogic powers. That is the correct advice, which every

aspirant should heed. But the mistake lies in equating me with a Sadhaka, like

the one whom Ramakrishna wanted to help, guide and warn. These yogic powers are

just in the nature of the Avathar -- the creation of things with intent to

protect and give joy is spontaneous and lasting. Creation, preservation, and

dissolution can be accomplished only by the Almighty ... no one else can.

Cynics carp without knowledge. If they learn the Sastras or scriptures, or if

they cultivate direct experience, they can understand me. Your innate laziness

prevents you from the spiritual exercises necessary to discover the nature of

God. This laziness should go. It has to be driven out of man's nature in

whatever shape it appears. That is my mission. My task is not merely to cure

and console and remove individual misery but is something far more important.

The removal of misery and distress is incidental to my mission. My main task is

the reestablishment of the Vedas and Sastras (spiritual scriptures), and

revealing the knowledge about them to all people. This task will succeed. It

will not be limited. It will not be slowed down. When the Lord decides and

wills, his divine will cannot be hindered.

You must have heard people say that mine is all magic. But the manifestation of

divine power must not be interpreted in terms of magic. Magicians play their

tricks for earning their maintenance, worldly fame, and wealth. They are based

on falsehood and they thrive on deceit, but this body could never stoop to such

a low level. This body has come through the Lord's resolve to come. That resolve

is intended to uphold truth (sahya). Divine resolve is always true resolve.

Remember there is nothing that divine power cannot accomplish. It can transmute

earth into sky and sky into earth. To doubt this is to prove that you are too

weak to grasp great things, the grandeur of the universe.

I have come to instruct all in the essence of the Vedas, to shower on all this

precious gift, to protect the ancient wisdom (sanathana dharma) and preserve

it. My mission is to spread happiness, so I am always ready to come among you

not once, but twice or thrice -- as often as you want me. Many of you probably

think that since people from all parts of India, and even foreign countries

outside India, come to Puttaparthy, they must be pouring their contributions

into the coffers of the Nilayam (Prashanthi Nilayam: name of Sai Baba's

ashram). But let me declare the truth. I do not take anything from anyone

except their love and devotion. This has been my consistent practice for the

last many years. People who come here are giving me just the wealth of faith,

devotion, and love. That is all.

Many of you come to me with problems of health and mental worry of one sort or

another. They are mere baits by which you have been brought here. But the main

purpose is that you may have grace and strengthen your faith in the divine.

Problems and worries are really to be welcomed, as they teach you the lessons

of humility and reverence. Running after external things produces all this

discontent. That type of desire has no end. Once you have become a slave to the

senses, they will not leave hold until you are dead. It is an unquenchable

thirst. But I call you to me and even grant worldly boons so that you may turn

God-ward. No Avathar has done like this before, going among the masses,

counseling them, guiding them, consoling them, uplifting them, and directing

them along the path of truth, righteousness, peace and love (Sathya, dharma,

shanthi and prema).

My activities and movements will never be altered, whoever may pass whatever

opinion on them. I shall not modify my plans for the establishment of

righteousness (dharmasthapana), my discourses, or my movements. I have stuck

to this determination for many years and I am engaged in the task for which I

have come: that is, to inculcate faith in the path of the highest spiritual

peace (Prashanthi). I shall not stop or retract a step.

Not even the biggest scientist can understand me by means of his laboratory

knowledge. I am always full of bliss. Whatever may happen, nothing can come in

the way of my smile. That is why I am able to impart joy to you and make your

burden lighter. I never exult when I am extolled, nor shrink when I am reviled.

Few have realized my purpose and significance, but I am not worried. When things

that are not in me are attributed to me, why should I worry? When things that

are in me are mentioned, why should I exult? For me it is always, "Yes, yes,

yes." If you give all and surrender to the Lord, he will guard and guide you.

The Lord has come for just this task. He is declaring that he will do so, and

that it is the very task that has brought him here. I know the agitations of

your heart and its aspirations, but you do not know my heart. I react to the

pain that you undergo and to the joy that you feel, for I am in your heart. I

am the dweller in the temple of every heart. Do not lose contact and company,

for it is only when the coal is in contact with the live embers that it can

also become live ember.

Cultivate nearness with me in the heart and it will be rewarded. Then you too

will acquire a fraction of that supreme love. This is a great chance. Be

confident that you will all be liberated. Know that you are saved. Many

hesitate to believe that things will improve, that life will be happy for all

and full of joy, and that the golden age will recur. Let me assure you that

this Divine body (Dharmaswaroopa) has not come in vain. It will succeed in

averting the crisis that has come upon humanity.

 

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