Sai Baba's Blessed Assurance By Dr. G. R. Vijayakumar

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Sai Baba's Blessed Assurance

By Dr. G. R. Vijayakumar

 

" Sai Baba -grant that I may never be a scoffer at eternity As long as

every 'Vijaya Dashami' brings the sweet rebirth of growing things. "

- Anonymous

 

All of us have two things in common - each one of us was born, and each

one of us must die. Most of us are not too concerned with the

circumstances of our birth; we do not remember it; it lies far behind

us. But the thought of dying is another matter. The knowledge that our

days on this earth will come to an end in an inescapable part of our

existence - some are mysterious and sometimes frightening.

 

I have come across Sai-devotees who are haunted by a fear of death,

which they try to conceal from other people, and even from themselves.

These people are not necessarily old or ill. Often they are in the prime

of life, with many useful years ahead of them. But sometimes, it seems,

the more they love life, the more they dread death.

 

What I usually do with such people is admit that I, too, have moments

when I flinch from the thought of dying, I suggest that this is

perfectly natural, that in my opinion Sai Baba has planted a certain

amount of this fear in all of us so that we would not be tempted to

relinquish the trials and responsibilities of this life too easily. But,

I add, lam sure Sai Baba did not intend us to be panicky about it.

Finally, I try to reassure these troubled souls by outlining the

thoughts that have helped me rise above the fear of death, or at least

keep it under control.

 

Take for example, the inevitability of dying. This seems to appall some

people, but it always has struck me as a merciful thing. Suppose there

were loopholes in this universal law; suppose that somehow there was a

one percent change of avoid-ing death. Consider how frantically we would

search for that loophole, how wretched we would be not to find it.

 

But consider how wretched we would be if we did find it! No one would be

happy trying to live forever. It is a little like being at a wonderful

film. During the performance, one hopes that it will go on and on, but

one would not really like to stay in front of the screen all night, or

until boredom sets in.

 

Another thing I tell the worried ones is this: you maybe frightened in

advance, but it is almost certain that when the time comes you will not

fear death at all. As a Doctor, I have seen hundreds of people die and

my experience is, at the end unless they are tormented by a guilty

conscience, people go peacefully and thankfully. The truth is death has

been miscast as a grim reaper. To almost everyone, when it finally

comes, it comes as a friend.

 

" That may be true, " say some of the fearful ones. " The moment of death

may be less terrifying than we thought. But then what? Is there a life

after death? Is there any proof?

 

To these I reply: " It depends on what you mean by proof. To me the

evidence is overwhelming, whether you consult your reason or your

instincts. Look at the vast universe that surrounds specifically that

there is a life beyond the grave. Not only that, Sai Baba has proved it

by His post-Samadhi activities. If you believe that it happened, death

should hold little terror for you. If you don't believe it, you are not

a completely fulfilled Sai-devotee.

 

The 'Maha-Samadhi' message of Sai Baba is one of such hope and joy that

Sai-devotees are thrilled by it. During last year's 'Punya Thithi'

celebrations, a Sai brother whom I know very well, was at Shirdi and

told me his early morning expe-rience at the holy soil of Shirdi. It was

cold; he had not worn a sweater or a coat. He stood in the 'Q' shivering

dolefully and wishing himself back in bed. " But then " he told me, " When

the sun cleared and light poured, I forgot all about being cold. One

moment everything was gray formless: Then came torrents of light

plunging down the walls of Booty - Wada, making them blaze with colour

dissolving the blackness into purple shadows that eddied like smoke.

Standing there, I had a most indescribable feeling, a conviction that

the light was real, and that we, silent watchers of the sunrise were

somehow a part of the light........... "

 

STRANGE WORDS

Strange words..................... but close to a profound truth.

 

Darkness is powerless before the onslaught of light. And so it is with

death. We have allowed ourselves to think of it as a dark door, when

actually it was a rainbow bridge spanning the gulf between the two

worlds.

 

That is the message of Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi. Yet there are people,

even good Sai-devotees, who accept it with their minds but really never

feel it in their lives. The message of Sai Baba " Even though I pass

away, my tomb takes care of my devotees " would never get through fully

to us until we go to Shirdi and see with our own eyes the places where

Sai Baba actually walked. As we stand before His 'Samadhi', we hear Sai

Baba's words: " | AM WITH YOU. "

 

Right in the Colony where I live, there is an inscription - " To larger

sight, the rim of shadow is the line of light " There you have it in just

12 words. Believe me, death is only a momen-tary rim of shadow. Beyond

it, waiting for all of us who deserve it, is the radiance of eternal

life.

(Source Sri Sai padananda Oct 1990)