Messages from Shirdi for the month of January 2003

[Guest guest]

Baba Said...

"To remember Him only is to solve the riddle of life and death. This is the best

and easiest of Sadhanas as it involves no expenditure".

"If we believe in Sadguru's holy feet, He can change our fortune for the better.

If we serve Him nicely, we get rid of our samsar".

"If we make Him our helmsman, we can easily cross over the sea of all our pains and sorrows".

"I am ever living to help and guide all who come to me, who surrender to me and

who seek refuge in me"

Remembrance

A devotee should always, every moment, remember his soul relationship with Baba

and feel affinity. The more we will remember, the closer we will feel with Him.

This remembrance is like the life force of all other aspects of devotion, so it

is of first importance. Remembrance of any of the names, leelas, virtues,

abodes, and the associates of Shirdi Sai can be done singly or collectively.

So, while doing the chanting or while listening to a chant or while remembering

a chant in our mind we should feel the synonymity of Blissful sweetness of Baba

with the name, and, at the same time, think of any leela, or feel and imagine

the presence of Baba near us. Bhakti is the selfless remembrance of Baba. It is

accompanied by the feeling of affinity and a desire to increase longing. Such a

devotion purifies the heart of the devotee and qualifies it to receive the

Grace of Baba. The practical and best way of Baba devotion to increase the

longing for the vision of Shirdi Sai is to remember the Divine relationship and

to meditate on the form and the leelas of Shirdi Sai Baba affectionately.Baba

devotees who have read Shri Sai Satcharitra experience this all the time when

they chant His name and meditate on Him. It brings up nostalgic moments as if

we are in Dwarkamai and He, the graceful and handsome Sai, standing on the edge

of the Masjid and distributing Udi to each and every Bhakta, with a view to his

welfare. He, Who thinks of the world as an illusion and Who is ever engrossed

in Supreme Bliss before Him, we humbly prostrate ourselves.

Key to Happiness:

Is there a way to quantify faith? What constitutes a successful dose of

patience? Some endure severest of hardships for several years, yet call

themselves very fortunate. Some seem to have a short stint with time and

profess to have waited patiently! Wisdom, whether through Bhakthi or Jnana

should impart the ability to truly discriminate between things of transient

nature and permanent. Spirituality may not be about quantifiable material gains

and losses that one accomplishes, even with the help of Sadguru. It may also not

be about the benefits that are only perishable. On the other hand, it may be

about a total personal transformation that should take place every minute,

while at sleep or awake. The effort has to come from within oneself and the

external factors may be the means to accomplish them.

Baba said out of love for His devotees - "What (whether good or bad) is ours is

with us, and what is another's is with him."- - Ch. XLV, Shri Sai Satcharita.

Even the simplest expressions of Baba have the message of greatest importance.

A moment of contemplation on such comments might have the most profound effects

on what we perceive as pain or pleasure. By the above statement, Sadguru Sainath

has endorsed the thought that our actions precede our fruits, the consequences.

He also several times advised that one have to endure the consequences of his

past Karma. Devotees also have seen how Sainath, the destroyer of karma, comes

to their rescue if the faith is earnest and the patience is complete. The

patience is complete if the faith is earnest. He is the helmsman and His

boundless coffers are open.

Doubt

It is easier to disbelieve than to believe because disbelief is an act of

descent, whereas belief is an act of ascent. It is easier to disbelieve than to

believe because disbelief is an act of breaking, and belief is an act of

building. Building is more difficult than breaking.It is easier to disbelieve

than to believe because disbelief is an act of our self-centered mind, whereas

belief is an act of our self-giving heart.We disbelieve because we are afraid

of oneness, afraid of the vast. We feel that when we enter into the vast, we

lose our identity, we lose our individuality, we lose our very existence. But

we forget the undeniable truth that when we enter into the vastness, it is

nothing short of the enlargement of our divinized consciousness.When we

disbelieve Baba, when we disbelieve the reality, Baba remains the same. But

what happens is that ignorance gets the opportunity to envelop us more

powerfully and more completely. When we believe in Baba, Baba's compassion gets

the utmost opportunity to work in and through us most powerfully.The deeper we

enter into the spiritual life, the more we become aware of the capacity of

disbelief and belief. Disbelief is nothing short of destruction. Belief is

nothing short of a new creation. Each time we believe in something, we see the

face of a new creator within and without us. And when we go one step ahead,

when our inner faith looms large, then we see in us a perfected man and a

liberated soul.

Divinity in humanity

All bodies are like bulbs and love is the main switch. Only when the main switch

is pressed, will the bodies radiate light and happiness to one and all. You are

switching off the main switch and trying to enjoy happiness. It is impossible.

Hrid + Daya (compassion) = Hridaya (heart). Your heart should be filled with

compassion. All your activities should be suffused with love. There is no

strength superior to love.  The love that originates in the heart is true

religion. The entire humanity is one family. All are brothers and sisters. The

whole world is but one mansion. It is impossible to describe in words the

happiness you would experience when you develop such broadmindedness. Hence,

make every effort to visualise divinity in humanity.

Power of Purity

Purity is the Light of our soul expressing its divinity through the body, the

vital and the mind. When we are pure, we gain everything. If we can retain our

purity, we will never lose anything worth keeping. Today we may have great

thoughts or great inner power, but tomorrow we are bound to lose them if we are

not pure. Purity is the breath of the Supreme. When purity leaves us, the breath

of the Supreme also leaves, and we are left with only our human breath.Purity is

like a divine magnet. It pulls all divine qualities into us. If we have purity,

then we have everything. There are two ways to have purity. One is by seeing

Baba inside everyone, consciously and constantly. The other is by imagining

Baba and consciously repeating His name as many times as possible. If we have

purity, we do not have to go to Baba. Baba Himself will make us see His

infinite Divinity. What Baba is will be reflected in us.Purity expedites Baba's

hour. Purity embodies Baba's power. Purity is the harbinger of selfless oneness,

eternity's perfect, selfless oneness with God.

Questions and Answers:

Question:  Some times I get tears when I think of Baba. I don’t know the reason for that.

Answer: Baba sends love waves to His children all the time. This happens with

thousands of people. These are tears of strength not weakness. Keep loving

Baba. He will grow in you.

Question :  I am very much drawn to Sai Baba, and I consider myself His devotee,

but I have trouble keeping Him in mind throughout the day. I would like Him to

be constantly present in my mind and heart. Does this come by His grace only?

Answer: Your thought process is noble and correct. Don’t worry at all if you

can’t keep Him in mind constantly because you have to do other things also

where mind has to be applied. Baba is aware of your problem. Do as much as you

can. Gradually things will improve.

Question:  Many devotees give lot of importance to the miracles exhibited by

saints. What is your opinion regarding this?

Answer: What do the devotees have to do with miracles? If merely the mention of

that word creates confusion, then one can guess the results it can create in

society if the mental equanimity is not there. Some devotees have certainly

made progress on the path of devotion by being influenced by such miracles.

QUOTATION OF THE MONTH:

"Baba taught by His Udi that all the visible phenomena in the universe are as

transient as the ash. Our bodies composed of wood or matter of the five

elements, will fall down, after all their enjoyments are over, and be reduced

to ashes. In order to remind the devotees of the fact that their bodies will be

reduced to ashes, Baba distributed Udi to them. Baba also taught by the Udi that

the Brahman is the only Reality and the universe is ephemeral and that no one in

this world, be he a son, father or wife, is really ours".-Shri Sai Satcharita.

Spontaneous human nature is to have an amicable inter relationship with

individuals, groups or situations, which are considered more powerful. Before

the evolution of the cerebral potentialities, the earliest human beings

considered the forces of nature like fire, cloud and even some other species to

be more powerful than themselves and thus started the earliest systems of

worship. This concept of God at the level of consciousness of the earliest

human beings was interpreted as more powerful forces of nature around and was

based sheerly on fear. Gradually, with the expansion of the thinking

capacities, the human race started understanding about the all pervading and

subtle forces of nature which they called God. Gradually they realised that

behind the manifested forms of sun and fire, there exists a subtle

consciousness. They further knew that this subtle consciousness is the

primordial causative force creating the visible and non-visible aspects of the

universe. The developed intellect and expanded consciousness of the spiritual

minds of India delved deep into these subtle causative forces of the universe

and realised that the existence of an eternal entity can be defined as God and

the Ultimate Truth. This primordial entity known in Vedas as 'Param Purusha' is

not bound by time, space or mutability although it creates time, space and

mutability. - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

 

Attachment: (image/jpeg) 77.Dwarakamayi portrait3.jpg [not stored]

Attachment: (image/jpeg) Shirdi Sai Moorthy Alankar5.jpg [not stored]

Attachment: (image/jpeg) Why fear when I am here.jpg [not stored]