Sai Spiritual Showers - last 3 issues

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The importance of living in the present, NOW, was discoursed by none other than Bhagawan Himself, many a time. We need to fill the time with “quality†said Bhagawan, writes Dr. MVN Murthy, recounting one of his “Encounters with Divinity†as published in the book “The Greatest Adventureâ€, later republished in Sanathana Sarathi, July 1984.

In March 1981, I was privileged to be in Brindavan, the residence of Bhagawan, along with many others. As we waited eagerly for the flash of the Red Robe, He appeared before us with the beaming smile; His eyes cast forks of Lightning (Vidyullekha) around. I waited in grateful expectancy for events to unfold themselves. In Baba's Presence the unexpected can and does happen!

Baba turned towards me and said, "So, you have been transferred to Bangalore!" This was several months after my transfer had materialised and an equal length of time after I had reported to Him before taking charge at Bangalore of my assignment! Why is Baba feigning ignorance? I used to wonder why the `Omnipresent' and the `Omniscient' One asks such questions. Now, I have discovered an answer which I believe is convincing.

Imagine Baba telling before everybody about us, what is in our mind at the moment, and what our deeds and misdeeds were until then. How many of us can muster courage to go to Him next? If He reveals all the time His Divinity by manifesting His "Omnipresence and Omniscience" few of us will dare go to Him; the facade of devotion which we maintain in His Presence, is so fragile that it will be shattered at the slightest touch. We will desert Him and give no scope for improving and transforming us. But, that is the task for which He has incarnated. So, in His mercy He gives us the impression that He is human, and envelops us with His maya, to keep us with Him until the slow process of transformation is consummated. We will have to be persuaded to give up our undesirable habits, `kramakramena', gradually.

Returning to the question He asked me, I replied, "Yes! Swami!" and I utilised the chance of nearness to volunteer some additional information. "Swami! I have only 71 days more before I retire from Government Service.†I hoped He would bless me with "Yes, Bangaroo!" and an assurance, "Time will pass; and you will join Swami's Service." Instead, He turned round and looked at me with those penetrating eyes. Out came the Sadguru's mantra, "Whether it is 71 days, 71 hours, 71 minutes or 71 seconds, quality is important," and in His characteristic style, He turned round and conveyed the message to all. "Quality of work is most important, isn't it?" He asked them, confronting them too with the Divine Dictum.

This is Baba; He uses every occasion to convey to all present lessons on how to apply spirituality in daily living, by such seminal mantras. He aims the mantra also at others who might benefit by the lesson. One will miss the Import of His statement if one thinks that it was meant only for the individual who happened to be the target of the teaching.

With the mantra Baba shook me from my stupor. He has repeatedly said that all the work we do for whomsoever it be, whatever it be and under whatever auspices, is work for Him. There is nothing like Sai Service, different from Government Service. All that you do is for Sai only; though apparently it is for yourself, really it is for Sai. I knew all this, but I must admit, that I had forgotten the lesson when I expressed relief at only a short period of 71 days remaining for me to retire from Service. The ever vigilant Sadguru gave me the lesson again at the right moment.

"Quality foremost!†What a grand formula for Ananda! I should not now attach importance to what happens after 71 days. I should not forget that it is His work which I am engaged in. I should carry out the work assigned by Him with emphasis on the highest quality I am capable of. It is His worship that is being done through the assignment. "The past is beyond recovery. Those days are gone. The future you are not sure of. The given moment is NOW! Sanctify it with holy thoughts, words and deeds.The most important thing in life is not doing what you like, but liking what you have to do," He has told us. These are the guidelines for instilling spirituality in daily living.

Can we practise this in the office, in the factory, in the kitchen or wherever our avocation lands us? No doubt we can; we should only bear in mind some other mantras He has given us. We can sanctify our thoughts, words and deeds if they are not motivated by the six enemies which the sages have identified, Kama (passion), Krodha (anger), Moha (attachment), Lobha (greed), Mada (pride) and Matsarya (envy). Difficult? Yes, but not impossible. Read any modern book on psychology, you will learn from them too that diseases are due to these six; for they are psychosomatic in origin.

While filling every moment with "quality,†we are fully involved in the work and naturally we will be enjoying the quality of the work we do. That joy, the self satisfaction which induces self respect, itself is the "fulfillment.†In fact, the sweetness of the process is to be coveted more than the final result. The game is more important than victory or defeat. That is the real meaning of the Lord's advice in the Gita, "Work alone is thy concern; not the fruit thereof."

Knowing that we are all dangerously forgetful, let us pray, "Baba! Give us the wisdom to remember your mantra when it is most needed and inspire us to fill every moment with work of the highest `quality' using fully the abilities you have endowed us with."

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Rama’s incarnation was to lay down norms of life to observe and follow. He was the Ideal Man with qualities and virtues everyman could earn and imbibe. Rama along with His three brothers represented the four primal goals of man, says Bhagawan. Read on Bhagawan’s expostion on His Avatar as Sri Rama, as published in Sanathana Sarathi, May 1980.

Rama is a Name that is sweeter than all the sweet things in Nature imbibed alone or together. It can never cloy on the tongue or mind. It has vast mysterious mystic potentialities to elevate man. So, one must endeavour to keep the mind ever dwelling on it. The story of Rama—The Ramayana—is but another version of the Vedas. In fact, it is said that the Vedas incarnated as the Ramayana, in order to help in the destruction of evil and the revival of righteous living, tasks which the Lord took upon Himself during His human career as Rama. Why! Rama and his three brothers are from one point of view the Four Vedas in human form. The Yajur Veda lays down the rights and duties of man, the Dharma which ensures Peace and Prosperity for him, both here and hereafter. So, it is represented by Rama Himself, for He put on the vesture of manhood in order to establish and exemplify Dharma. "Ramo Vigrahavaan Dharmah" is how the Ramayana described Him.

—"Rama, the embodied Dharma."

The Rg Veda enshrines mantras or potent formulae. It elucidates them and elaborates their meanings. These mantras have the mantra 'Rama' as their crown. And Brother Lakshmana, who repeated it, recited it and relied on it, for everything in life and beyond, is indeed the embodiment of the Rg Veda. He teaches mankind that the Rama mantra confers on man the Constant Presence of the Lord. The Sama Veda contains songs in praise of Creation and the Creator and through adoration sublimated in song, the Lord yields Grace. Bharata whose every thought, word and deed was an act of thanksgiving, a paean of praise dedicated to Rama, was the Sama Veda Itself. Then, we have the Atharvana Veda which is a collection of medical and ritual details, of charms and protective amulets to overcome internal and external foes. Shatrughna, whose every name means `the destroyer of foes' is therefore appropriately the avatar of the Atharvana Veda. This Veda enables

man to conquer evil habits, attitudes and tendencies, so that he can listen to the Voice of God and gladly translate the words into daily life. Shatrughna demonstrated by his humility, loyalty and devotion how he had won victory over his ego, greed and anger.

Very often the mistake is committed of forgetting that Rama came, in order to lay down the norms of life and that His Life has to be observed and followed by mankind. He is the ideal Man, with qualities and virtues which every man can earn to elevate himself. Mere worship, empty adoration is not what the Avatar expects. Rama underwent trouble, disappointment and distress like any man, in order to show that joy is but an interval between two griefs, that grief is a challenge, a test, a lesson. He held forth the ideal relationship between son and father, husband and wife, brother and brother, friend and friend, ally and enemy and even man and beast. The Ramayana teaches also that, as a consequence of the individual's accumulated Karma consequence, children of the same mother may have opposite character and careers. The waters of a pond breed leeches as well as lotuses. Vali and Sugriva were brothers! So were Ravana and Vibhishana!

From another point of view, Rama and the brothers can be understood as models of the four primal goals of Man—the Purusharthas. Of these Rama was Dharma (Righteousness); Lakshmana was Artha (Prosperity); Bharata was Kama (Fulfillment of Desires) and Shatrughna was Moksha (Liberation). These four are the progeny of every human being, Dasaratha (ten chariot leader). Man having five sense organs of perception and five senses of action ruling over Ayodhya, the City that is impregnable (the heart wherein God resides). These four goals have to be reduced to two pairs—Dharma Artha and Kama Moksha: man must struggle to attain prosperity only through righteous ways. The prosperity should be used to achieve and maintain Dharma. This is the reason why Lakshmana follows in the footsteps of Rama. He served as the right hand of Rama and for Rama's sake, Lakshmana bore all travails and agonies with a smile on his lips. When the demon Kabandha had

both Rama and Lakshmana in his deadly clasp, Lakshmana offered to stay in those arms, advising Rama to escape and live. This is the reason why, when Lakshmana fell unconscious on the battlefield and could not be revived, Rama lamented, "Perhaps I may get another Sita, if this Sita passes away, but, O Lakshmana, I can nowhere get another brother like you."

Rama also shared with Bharata the love that Lakshmana poured on Him so profusely. He told Bharata who prayed to him, with tears in his eyes, to return to Ayodhya as its ruler, "No. Father has ordered me to rule over the forests, helping the anchorites and hermits and saving them from the inroads of Demonic hordes. He has willed that you should rule over the Kingdom of Ayodhya. Let us both be loyal to him." That was the expression of His fraternal Love.

The next pair of Purusharthas is Kama and Moksha; the only Desire worth entertaining and pursuing is the Desire for Liberation. Bharata had it and Shatrughna shared it.

After the long pilgrimage to the shrines and holy spots of Bharat, Rama had a few years, until he was aged fourteen, of apparent introspection and solitude. He disliked food and regal apparel. He was not interested in materials and men. He waved his fingers and palms for no clear reason; he wrote on the air only He knew what. He laughed without reason. In short, His actions and movements were exactly the same as Sai Baba's (mine) when He (I) too was in His (my) early teens. Vasishta attempted to bring His mind back to normalcy but that was only a stage which all Avatars are in, before they enter upon the task for which they have come down. Those years, the Avatar was designing His Master Plan. At the end of that period, the sage Viswamitra arrived at the Palace, asking Dasaratha to send Rama (and the inseparable Lakshmana) with him, to save the hermits from the demonic gangs who desecrated Vedic rites. The Plan started unfolding.

 

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The path of surrender is a perfect Yoga. With steady faith in His Omnipotence, with no thought other than the Lord, with all actions done as offerings to Him the Sadhaka progresses on the path of surrender to become Yoga Yukta (Firm in Yoga), writes CPK Nair, as published in Sanathana Sarathi, Feb 1977.

When coursing across the sea of Samsara being tossed about by the wild winds of destiny, a cry rises from the heart of man, "O, Lord! You are my only hope; I surrender to you; save me from these catastrophes"

This by no means is surrender. This thought of the Omnipotence of the Lord and the insignificance of human strength in meeting the onslaughts of fate is sudden and short-lived and is not grounded in Faith which alone can constitute the basis for Surrender or Sharanagati. The devotee endowed with such Faith has to consecrate his actions feelings and thoughts, nay his will and his life itself at the feet of the Lord, leading to the erasure of the ego. The result of such a Sadhana is nothing but Self realisation which is the goal of all Yoga, whether it is Jnana, Karma or Bhakti. In fact Surrender is a total discipline and is by itself a Yoga—the Yoga of Surrender. Surrender or Sharanagati alone can lead one to Mukti. "Sharanagati or unconditional surrender is the main gate to enter the mansion of Mukti", says Bhagavan Baba. It is for that surrender that Lord Krishna, the Divine Charioteer says to Arjuna when He says, "Abandoning all

Dharma, come to me alone for shelter. Be not grieved, for I shall release thee from all evils.â€

Emphasising the fact the pre requisite for surrender is resolute faith in the Supreme, Bhagavan Baba says, "To get the attitude of Surrender or dedication, you must have faith in God... Without faith, Sadhana is an empty rite.... Faith in God is the secure foundation on which hope has to be built." A question is asked whether such absolute faith in the Supreme and the surrender of one's own will is not tantamount to sacrificing self confidence and giving up faith in oneself. If the 'self' is understood as the Atma or the Divine Consciousness, such faith in the self becomes virtually faith in the Supreme; in fact, the self does not exist, distinct from the Supreme. But. If the reference is to the personality made up of the body, mind and intellect, the faith in the self is totally misplaced, and can lead us nowhere. Instead of helping the aspirant to transcend the ego such confidence can only strengthen the ego and make detachment or

Vairagya more and more difficult.

Bhagavan points out that there is justification in our talking about Sharanagati or Surrender only when we are fully in control of our minds, words and body. The body, mind and intellect foster the ego and so long as the ego is in power, the control of the ego can be eliminated by subordinating it to the Omnipotence of the Lord, surrendering it at the altar of the Supreme.

We have to emulate the unique example of Arjuna. We see in the Bhagavad-Gita, how in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna began thinking that he was using his own intelligence, his own capacity of enquiry and his own ability to distinguish right from wrong. The Arjuna of Bhagavad-Gita is the representative man who relies on his feeble intelligence for meeting the crises which confront him in life. But Arjuna fails and with full faith in the Lord he becomes a true Sadhaka. Having been cured by the Lord of his ignorance (nashto moha) and having regained the knowledge of his true nature (smritir labdhaa) he surrenders to the Lord and becomes an instrument in His Divine hands.

The Yoga of Surrender, like the Karma Yoga or the Path of Dedicated Action is indeed the path for Self realisation for the modern man. A question generally raised is whether one should not have ambition and how else can one survive in the competitive world. The Eternal Philosophy does not advocate inaction; on the other hand it calls for the employment of the maximum skill and effort in all one's actions—yogah karmasu kausalam (yoga is skill in action). The difference however is in the motivation for action. While in the normal course one expects certain results from action—expectation of continuing success in the case of one charged with ambition—for a Sadhaka on the path of surrender, the actions are offerings at the feet of the Lord. In such offerings the question of degrees in the quality of effort cannot arise. There is just one way for such a person for performing his actions and that is the best way. Having done one's best

as offering to the Lord, he remains unconcerned with the results. The ambitious man tries to correlate his efforts (on the basis of his own judgement) with the results and manipulates his efforts appropriately to gain his objective. The Sadhaka surrenders his actions and having done his best without thoughts about the results; he views the success or failure or any degree of either, with complete detachment. The Lord asks Arjuna, "Resigning all thy works to Me, with thy consciousness fixed in the Self, being free from desire and egoism, fight, delivered from thy fever.†In the words of Bhagawan Baba, "Have no other thought than God, no other aim than knowing His Command, no other activity than translating that Command into action. That is what is meant by surrender." The attributes of such dedicated action are again brought out in the characteristically affectionate language of Gita, "Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest,

whatever thou givest away, whatever austerities thou dost practise, do that, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna) as an offering to Me.†There can be no clearer guidelines for a Sadhaka who is on the path of surrender, irrespective of whether he is householder, professional or Sanyasin. In fact the advice was directed to a Kshatriya prince who was on the battlefield, and not to one who has taken up Sanyasa.

A Sadhaka who surrenders all actions at the feet of the Lord has obviously no cause for fear. Fear arises from desire; desire begets anger and anger brings in its trail other consequences which ultimately result in self destruction. Having surrendered oneself, the results of one's actions are also surrendered and the question of Raga (desire) and Krodha (anger) do not arise and there is no consequent Bhaya (fear) also. There is the assurance of the Lord in his words to Arjuna that "those who, laying all actions in Me, intent on Me, worship, meditating on Me with unswerving devotion, these I straightaway deliver from the ocean of death bound existence". Surrender has to be complete without any reservations. "Your minds are wayward like monkeys that skip and jump from bough to branch. Give them to me," says Bhagavan Baba "I can make them steady and harmless… But it must be a complete handing over, no reservations.â€

The stricken soul which thinks of surrender, perhaps seeks only the alleviation of the suffering; it should seek release from the bondage of Samsara, of Ignorance, which is the prime cause of all suffering. The pain cannot be removed unless the cause of the pain is removed. The suffering cannot be removed by substituting it by pleasure since that also will be short lived. The mind that is the source of all pleasure and pain has to be conquered, the ego which is the sufferer or enjoyer has to be eliminated. This conquest, this elimination is achieved by surrendering them at the feet of the Lord without any reservation. Even if a trace of these is left, the Sadhaka continues to be the subject of the onslaughts of the results of Karma.

Not only Hinduism, but all religions emphasise the need for complete surrender. In `Imitation of Christ' of Thomas a Kempis, the Lord asks the disciple to surrender his all. Some people surrender themselves, but keep something back. They do not trust God utterly, but try to provide for themselves. "Some at first offer all they have, but later when temptations buffet them, they take it back and that is why they make no progress in goodness… Give your all for the one who is all; expect nothing, want nothing back; leave yourself with Me wholly and without regrets and you will possess Me.â€

The path of surrender is therefore a perfect Yoga. With steady faith in His Omnipotence, with no thought other than the Lord, with all actions done as offerings to Him the Sadhaka progresses on the path of surrender to become Yoga Yukta (Firm in Yoga)

 

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