The Immortal Friend By Jaswant Contractor

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The Immortal Friend

By Jaswant Contractor

" A man, with his back towards the sun, runs to catch his own shadow, but can

never do so. But when he turns himself away from his shadow, with his face

towards the sun, it runs after him and never leaves him. So is the case with

worldly desires.

- Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji

 

Ever since the dawn of human civilization on earth, it has been man's

endeavor to worship God or Gods in all conceivable forms, which of

course vary from religion to religion. But in spite of bewildering

differences the religions and the modes of worship ordained therein, man has

always aimed at purity of body and heart in order to be a fitting instrument in

the service of God. Our Gurudev, His Holiness Radhakrishna Swamiji worshiped

idols in the form of 'Chetan', not merely as a stone. In fact he laid down that

we should worship as 'everything is His manifestation.'

 

Once, it so happened that the little finger of Mother Seetha's idol was broken

in Sai Spiritual Centre. Swamiji attached so much importance and I fact felt the

pangs of pain as if his little finger was damaged. He told us story to impress

upon us that our idol-worship be fruitful.

 

" One who worships an idol should worship it as a form of 'Chetan', not

merely as a stone; only then does worship become fruitful. Once a

devotee used to worship an idol of Sri Rama, many years went by but Lord Rama

did not appear before him. One day, a worshiper of Lord Krishna gave him an idol

of Krishna and told him to worship it regularly. The devotee put the idol of

Lord Rama in a nearby window and began to worship Lord Krishna instead. One day

he was offering fragrant incense to the new idol. Suddenly he saw the scented

smoke drifting towards Lord Rama's idol. This infuriated him; he felt that Lord

Rama had no right to inhale the fragrance as he had not appeared before him even

though he had worshiped him devotedly for years. He got up at once and began to

plug the nostrils of the idol, with cotton. At that very moment, Lord Rama being

pleased appeared before him. The devotee was astonished. He could not understand

why Lord Rama should be pleased with him now that he was angry; when He had not

cared for the worship offered for years. To clear up his confusion, Lord Rama

explained: " until now you worshiped

my idol as a stone, but now that you consider it conscious, I have

appeared before you. "

 

Swamiji stressed the point that if you have the right attitude you will

'discover God everywhere, in all objects - rivers, mountains, fields, flowers,

trees, birds and animals. God is one; you may conceive of Him with or without

form. Everything is His manifestation. God has no form, yet all forms are His.

He is always supremely satisfied in His own Self.

It is the worshiper who derives satisfaction from His worship; that is

idol worship is meant not for God but for the worshiper.

 

Those who came in contact with Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji feel the impact of the

subtle spiritual influence he exerts on them and by his grace one is able to

attain inner peace and enlightenment.

 

People come to him to find the answers to their ever questioning minds. They are

with him to know them selves. Swamiji has the capacity to penetrate through each

one. Those who come to him with an open mind and a pure heart are able to have a

glimpse of his greatness. Swamiji has reached the spiritual heights where

oneness of the Self is experienced everywhere and duality does not exist. As

Kabir puts it, " Everyone knows that the drop is contained in the ocean; but

hardly anyone knows that the ocean is contained in the drop. "

 

By becoming dependent on Sai Baba, our dependence on the world vanishes and by

giving up dependence on the world, we automatically depend on Sai Baba. We

should give prominence to either of these two the result will be the same.

 

- Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji

(Source Sri Sai padananda Oct 1991)