THE REAL SADHANA IS LOVE...Talk By Mrs Kamaraju in Rockford ...Part-2

[Guest guest]

THE REAL SADHANA IS LOVE

The ultimate motive is love. Swami also speaks about the importance of love. There is no

other service beyond this love. The real sadhana is love. “Love all, serve all†is the motto of

our Sai. We can also do service; we can practice serving everybody. As Jesus said, “Love

thy neighbor as thyself.†That is practicing love in so many ways.

See how from two seeds two saplings will come. The saplings form a chain, and the chain

grows. The chain represents a mother, and after that a sibling. That‟s how love expands

between family members.

SERVICE TO SOCIETY

When a boy grows, when he comes to the age of three or four, he is busy playing with his

friends. Later on, he grows up and gets married and has his own children. The family-wise

attention, compassion, kindness, and affection grow. It is transformation by love only.

Then after that, he becomes an employee: he goes to the office and loves his colleagues

there. If he doesn‟t love them or cannot cooperate with them, he cannot work in that office.

That's how the expansion of love goes on. After this, when he becomes old, he will want to

do some service to society. Out of love, this service comes.

He starts to think about his family. When the children are small, he goes to the market and

buys two types of sweets and takes them to the house. He keeps one packet for the children,

and the other packet for the rest of the family and whoever comes to the house. Because the

sweets taste so good, the children finish both packets! But he doesn‟t feel badly because he

loves his children. When he was his children's age, he was so talented and happy. He

doesn‟t mind that they finished all the sweets. That‟s how the love expands. He doesn‟t want

to be selfish anymore.

After that, whenever a mango is brought to the lady of the house, she keeps it in the fridge;

only when the children come home in the evening does she cut the mango into pieces and

serve it to her husband and her children. That‟s how love grows and grows, more and more.

Then when the man becomes old, he wants to serve society. The love continues to expand

like that; it goes on expanding. He thinks that everyone around is his family. He doesn‟t limit

himself only to his family. He sees everyone around him—everyone in society who is in need

of help—and he goes to them and helps them. That‟s how love goes on expanding.

Expansion of love goes on. Swami says we should love everybody: we should “Love All

Serve Allâ€. We should do some service to the society. We should obey these principles, and

follow whatever statements, rituals, and messages that Swami gives us.

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We can do all these things even in our restricted condition and with our limited financial

means. Even ladies can participate in service programmes, which you are already doing I

think, so I don't need to say anything more.

In Parthi, daily darshan also give us so many messages. We always need to get tuned to

Swami. Whenever Swami comes for darshan, we have to observe every gesture, every one

of Swami‟s movements and looks, and then we'll be able to get some message.

SWAMI COMMUNICATES WITH US THROUGH OUR INNER VOICE

That‟s how life goes in Parthi. If you are not tuned in, if you are thinking of something else—

your children, your job or your problems—then no message will come to you.

His message will come to you when you are thinking only of Him, if you are contemplating

only on Swami. When you pray, the message will come to you. Sometimes because of our

sadhana, we will get them. Swami communicates with us through the inner voice.

Only a few people have direct contact with Swami; all the others can‟t have direct contact

with Swami. It‟s not easy to be close to Swami nowadays. In previous days, it was a little

easier; but now it‟s not so easy. So Swami communicates with us through the inner voice. By

doing some sadhana, you will come to know this inner voice. You will be able to know and

listen to this inner voice.

In the beginning, I didn‟t have this inner voice. After I did some sadhana, Swami started

talking to me. Some time ago, in the beginning of our stay in Parthi, Swami used to say so

many things to me. For every one of His statements, I would find two meanings! I didn't know

how to follow it, or which way I had to take it. It appeared to me that there were two

meanings in whatever Swami said to me.

After that, I went to one lady who helped me a lot in understanding Swami's statements and

Swami's messages. Her name was Seshigramma; now she is no more. One day we were

discussing Swami's leelas and she suddenly got up and went to the altar saying, “Swami has

come here! Swami has come here!†So she went to give aarthi to Swami.

I wondered how she could know that Swami had come. How could she feel His

presence? So I asked her, “How could you know that?â€

She told me, “After you do sadhana, you will be able to know, and you can talk and have

some communication with Swami.â€

HOW SWAMI STARTED TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME

Then I wondered what sadhana I could do. I cannot go for nagarsankeerthan because I

cannot get up so early in the morning. So I started to do some convenient sadhana, that is,

to cook for somebody. I cooked for the family anyway, so it was convenient, and I could feed

someone else too.

So I started cooking for this priest who lived next to my house; he was a Hindi scholar. His

family was away from him, so I started cooking lunch for him daily. I used to send a plate of

lunch. My husband would take it to him.

After few days, Swami started talking to me. He told me that since their family was from the

north, they didn‟t eat spicy food. Swami said, “You are putting a lot of mirchi (chili) powder in

the food. Don‟t put it in, as he can‟t digest spicy food. Don't add mirchi powder.â€

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Another day Swami told me, “You are giving lunch too late. Don't do that. He is an old man,

so send it early!†That's what Swami told me.

That was the first thing I heard from Swami. That's how Swami started communicating to me.

That was the experience I had.

IF YOU ARE ANGRY, SCOLD YOURSELF, DON'T SCOLD ANYBODY ELSE

Another time when I was about to go to darshan, a message came on the TV, which I

ignored. I went for darshan.

It was a Thursday and on the TV there was one of Swami‟s discourses. During the discourse

Swami talked about anger: “If you are angry, scold yourself; don't scold anybody else,†He

said. That was His message.

I ignored the message and went for the darshan. I was sitting in the darshan line and Swami

came to me and said, “Gurudev.†I wondered why Swami was saying that. I didn't understand

why Swami was talking like that. I couldn‟t understand.

Whenever I have a doubt, I go to Ganesha, and there I enquire of myself what mistake I

have made that day. I go through all the things I have done from morning to evening so that I

can make out my mistakes.

That's why I go to Ganesha every day. That day I went there; then after that, I went home,

and only then I understood Swami's message: from the morning I had been scolding my

maidservant for being absent for three days continuously. That's what Swami was referring

to. When we are angry, we should not scold anybody. We should scold only ourselves.

Also, we should not scold children. Usually ladies tend to get irritated more quickly than men

because we work all day! (Laughter) Swami used to tell me, “Forgive and forget.â€

SWAMI KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT US

On another day my daughter-in-law and I were both sitting in the first line. It was the

auspicious day of Saravana Suprabhata, the Friday when all us ladies do puja. Swami came

down the line, but He didn‟t give us padanamaskar. (I expected padanamaskar because we

had done aarthi and also my daughter-in-law was there.)

But Swami didn‟t give it to us. He stared at us and went back. In the evening, we were also

sitting in the first line, but Swami didn‟t come to that side. He took a short-cut and went to the

other side. I was so embarrassed in front of my daughter-in-law.

I took it as a challenge: “Why did Swami do this?†I was embarrassed and also irritated.

Later, I understood Swami's feelings and Swami‟s thought behind it, and why Swami had

done this: Swami had made a short-cut and had gone to the other side, the bhajan side.

While giving darshan, He normally comes to the main line; but that day he went up the

bhajan line. There was a group of people sitting there, all of whom were from a tribal group.

Swami went directly to them. He spent one hour there with them and gave them chains and

made them so happy.

Then I understood that those people were in need of His presence and in need of His

message, because they could not wait another day, or even another hour, as they needed to

go immediately to take the bus.

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That's how Swami can understand our mental state. He knows everything about us. Swami

knows very clearly whatever we need, at the time we need it, and also the purpose behind

the need. That's why Swami went to the tribal group and made them happy. That's how I

could understand that it was my mistake to expect anything from Swami. If Swami gives, well

and good; but we should not expect anything from God.

Whenever we need Swami, He Himself will come to us and give us what we need. That‟s

how Swami protects us and takes care of us as His own children.

RECEIVING A SAREE FROM SWAMI IS A BLESSING

Another day in Puttaparthi, at the time of Swami's Birthday, I distributed to all the ladies,

while the men were waiting and watching. And then Swami gave sarees to all the ladies.

That was a very nice scene, I must say!

Three days before Swami's Birthday, there were so many people sitting there—people from

abroad, all the cinema actors, playback singers, all were there. Everyone was waiting for

Swami to give sarees to them. Receiving sarees from Swami is a very auspicious thing. It is

not simply a saree; it is a blessing from God. That‟s why all the ladies look forward to

receiving sarees at the time of Swami‟s Birthday.

That day so many people were sitting there: the playback (recording artist) singer, Susheela,

the cinema actors, Anjali, Janaki, and Jamuna, and also some other actors. One list was

made of these ladies. Mrs. Shourie is in charge of the ladies, and she was reading out the

names of the women who would go to Swami and get sarees. That's how it was going on.

I was sitting in one corner; I was also in the front and I was looking at all these people. Oneby-

one the names were called. So many volunteers were there, and they were holding the

bundles of sarees of different types.

Swami was taking one saree at a time from the bundle to give to one of the ladies. He first

went to the old ladies. He doesn‟t simply give the sarees, Swami also makes them happy.

Most of them are widows.

SWAMI SHOWERS HIS LOVE ON EVERYONE

Swami went and spoke to one lady. He said, “This is a white saree, but you don't wear white

sarees. I will give you a coloured saree.†First he gave her the white saree, and then He

exchanged it and gave her a coloured one. He knows the minds of people, what they like

and what they don't like.

So that‟s how he cracks jokes with them and gives out the sarees. After that, he called all the

ladies one-by-one, all the donors and all the playback singers. All these people were going to

Swami.

In this moment, looking at the atmosphere and the situation, I was able to write a poem. By

Swami‟s grace, I have written so many poems; at that time also I wrote a poem. The poem

goes like this:

Karunantharangude Kadalivacchhi

Komalanganala Rammani Piluva

Sahaja Soundarya Sarasajakshilu

Paruguna Swami Darichera

Idhigo Suseela Soundaryanchu

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Vanne Sarichusi Swami

Varada Hastaala Vastraalanicche Muddala Mohana Mopparagamu

Swami calls these ladies.

When the compassionate Lord calls these ladies,

These humble, beautiful, simple ladies,

They walk to Swami to get padanamaskar, and also a saree.

They are so happy to get a saree from the Divine hands.

That’s how they are blessed:

They get a saree and come back.

I didn‟t get a saree that time because my name wasn‟t on the list. I came home, and my

husband asked me, “Did you get a saree?â€

“No, I didn‟t get a saree,†I replied.

So the next day, Swami asked my husband, “Did your wife get a saree?â€

He replied, “No Swami, she didn‟t get a saree.â€

Swami said, “No? I sent the saree. Why didn‟t she get it?â€

That day I came home, and in front of everybody Swami gave the saree to my husband, and

then he sent it home. That‟s how I thought Swami had forgotten about me. But Swami never

forgets anybody. He notices everyone. He recognises everyone. He will call everyone. That‟s

how He showers His love on everyone.

When He sent the saree through my husband, I was so happy. And there is one more thing:

if you get a saree in front of all the people, that also adds to our status because everybody

likes to receive sarees from the Divine hands.

I have received a saree directly from Swami's hands on a few occasions, twice or thrice.

Usually He sends a saree through my husband. Anyhow, Swami has reminded me of His

love for me for such a long time.

On one occasion, during Swami‟s Birthday time, it was also my birthday; but my husband

had forgotten. He was doing service in the canteen or some place there. I, too, went for

service because during Sai‟s Birthday time, many seva dals are needed.

After finishing my service, I came home. A friend was there with me. I told her, “It's my

birthday today, but my husband forgot it.†Just then my husband came with a saree in his

hands. He told me, “Swami gave you a saree! Even if I forget, Swami never forgets your

birthday.â€

That day Swami sent me the saree because it was my birthday. That‟s how Swami keeps a

watch on everybody. Whether we make mistakes or do good things, He notices.

SWAMI GIVES US CLUES

One day I was making sweets, Mysore pak. Sometimes during festivals, I send sweets to

Swami. I made the Mysore pak and packed one box full.

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The next morning I was ready. That day I had a vision that half of it was finished. I was very

surprised and thought that Swami had taken the Mysore pak! I came to the kitchen, opened

the lid, and saw the box was still full.

The next day I sent it to Swami. When it came back in the evening, just half of it was gone.

That means Swami was only going to take half, as He had told me in the beginning. That‟s

how He gives me clues about what is going to happen in the future. It‟s very difficult to

understand His clues. We can understand only with faith.

When my mother passed away, it was very sudden. One month before, Swami had told me

to go away for ten days. I wondered, “Why is Swami telling me to do this?†When Swami is in

Puttaparthi, usually we don't go anywhere. Only when Swami goes out of town do we leave.

But that time Swami had told me to go away for ten days, though I didn‟t understand why.

“Where can I go?†I thought. “For two or three days, I can go to friends‟ houses; but for ten

days, where I can go?†That‟s what I thought. Then I thought, “If I go for ten days, I can go to

my mother.â€

Swami's intention was that I go to my mother. He wanted me to spend time with my mother. I

couldn‟t understand it at the time, and also I didn‟t want to leave Swami. But a month later,

my mother passed away. Only then did I understand why Swami had spoken to me like that.

Swami will give some clues like that; but it is very difficult to understand Swami's statements

because there are so many meanings. Two meanings will appear. One day there will be one

meaning, and then another meaning will appear after few days. So it is very difficult to

understand Swami's statements. They are so meaningful. It may happen after one month, it

may happen after one year; we just don't know.

Thank you, Swami, for giving me this opportunity. Thank you everyone. Thank you.

(Applause)

© Copyright Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju, Puttaparthi. All rights reserved.

Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan

Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan