A little experience I had today with Baba!

[Guest guest]

Jai Sai Ram

I hope the Sai family is doing well!

I just wanted to share a sweet little experience I had with

Baba today. Again, it is a little experience but thought of sharing it anyway!

So my house mate cooked food today and also tasted a little

bit from the pan before we rushed for the temple to attend the Shej aarti. On

our way, I realised that we didn’t take a little bit of that food with us to

the temple to offer it to Baba. I told him to remember to offer it to Baba (in

the little shrine in our house) when we come back home after the aarti. He told

me that he had made a mistake by already tasting some of it and hence we

shouldn’t now offer it to Baba! I told him that I have always tasted it (sometimes

to check the flavour and sometimes because I was hungry) before giving it to

Baba and don’t believe in all of these strict rigid rules and regulations. We

had a friendly discussion (cum debate) about how we should follow the rules Vs

how true bhakti is important and not such rules. We also asked a devout uncle

at the temple about it and he said that we shouldn’t offer tasted food to Baba

but he told me with a smile on his face that if I wanted to be like Shabri

(Krishna devotee who offered a half eaten fruit to Krishna which was accepted

glady) then I could be so. Still confused, but I felt I was right!

Went back home, took my dinner plate in front of Baba’s

picture in front of the house shrine to offer it and told Baba jokingly that, “I

don’t care about all of these crazy rules; thank you for this food!â€. Then I forgot

about the whole episode.

Just before retiring to bed, I try and read one random

chapter of Shri Sai Satcharita every night. I have a chits system to choose

chapters; this time the random chapter was number 40 (English version) where

one of the stories is of Baba coming in the dreams of Hemadpant as a well

dressed Sanyaasi and said that he would come to him for meals that day. The

story mentions how on that day Hemadpant got his wife to cook some extra rice

for Baba as he may attend as a guest at dinner time. Mainly, it mentions on

page 215, “Formal offering to the

Vaishwadeva (fire) , and Naivadya was to Shri Krishna were also over and the members

were about to beginâ€......Later on the same page it is mentioned, “The picture (of Baba) was placed on the

central seat, reserved for the guest and after making the due offering of the

Naivaidya, the whole party commenced eating and finished it in proper time.â€

I wonder why only this chatper (out of 50) was chosen by

Baba when I casted the chits!? J

 

I wonder how many answers he gives to his devotees even in

such little matters without even being in his mortal body - Honestly, I have

gotten many of them just through such curious coincidences.

I think I will stick to offering food before tasting it (for

now at least) whilst I try to develop the devotion and have a pure heart like Shabri!

 

Jai Sai Ram