BABA's answers in nilacharal.com

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BABA answers to questions in www.nilacharal.com

Why did I change my working pattern?

I am a result-oriented person. I choose the methodology most suitable for obtaining results. I have been changing my pattern of working from time to time. In 1992, I declared, ‘I am that, beyond attaining which there is nothing else to seek. You seek and attain or you ripen in your search; either way what you attain will be Me’. Yet, recently I started saying, ‘I am not a Mahaan. I am not God. I am not an Avatara Purusha (incarnation).’ Which one of my statements is untrue: what I stated in 1992 or in 2001? I proclaimed that I was that God, whose vision sages do not gain even after several eons of penance. Why do I now call myself a social service person?

I know myself very well. But I descend to your level of understanding. There is a beautiful anecdote. A candidate applies for a job, ‘I hold a Doctorate degree from this University…’ in correct English. His application gets rejected on the grounds that his qualification is too high for the post. He applies again projecting himself as a candidate holding a Masters Degree, and this time his letter has a couple of deliberate mistakes. He gets rejected again. He applies repeatedly with the same result. Finally he writes a letter filled with grammatical mistakes, saying he has studied upto seventh grade, and does not have experience. He is appointed! This story sounds funny but this is the state of affairs in today’s society.

I said I am God. I furnished you evidences: the blue flame emanating from my forehead, the white flame, the sun and moon in my eyes. I revealed so many divine forms in fire. I explained the divine marks on my palms and the soles of my feet. So many astrologers and Nadi specialists were amazed by the readings of my horoscope and Nadi (astrological predictions contained in palm leaf scripted by ancient saints). Yet people refused to believe. They were distracted by my physical appearance, they questioned my casual appearance, my dance, why people offered me poojas, and I answered every question patiently. I gave no room for any confusion to persist. So many years have passed by and yet they continue to question. What do I, the Divinity gain by convincing them? I know I am God. The praise or scorn of society does not affect me. But I have to reach across to the people, because that is the task I have set for myself. So I came down to saying ‘I render social service’. Now everyone has started declaring, ‘There is none to match Baba. So much service he does for society; he has an old age home, a school, a hospital. He distributes free food to everyone who visits his institution.’ This is the language society understands. Mine is a higher language. But people prefer only a language suited to their level of understanding.

I asserted that my very touch could cure people of terminal diseases too. Society ridiculed me despite various proofs. They were not prepared to accept even the statements of specialists like the Neuro Surgeon Dr. Ramamurthy. Society is not prepared to accept anything that comes for free. So I stopped using my energy for curing people. Instead I established a free medical cell at Samratchana. When people come to me complaining of illnesses, I send them to the doctors here.

So many such things I performed at a higher state of divine energy. I was forced to speak the language of society. I can sing Thyagaraja Kritis (Thyagaraja was a renowned music composer; Kritis: songs), but the society is more interested in local jazz.

My methods have been result-oriented, tuning themselves to the contemporary times and the expectations of society without compromising on ethics. This type of adjustment has not been possible for the saints of yore and the present day gurus. But I have achieved this.

Look at this from another angle. Observe Samratchana in terms of organizational management or discipline: have you ever seen any other organization managed this way? Not possible in ancient times, because those were non-management days. Ours is the only spiritual organization that is run on a corporate management style. If you doubt my words, visit all spiritual establishments and then you will accept what I say is true.

Volunteers manage this organization; there is no paid staff here. Samratchana is run on practical commonsense management. Other saints find it difficult to mingle with the common people; they are trapped in the golden prison of formal rituals. I am one with the people. Everything that happens here comes to my knowledge. I am accessible to everyone. I know everyone personally; I know your strengths and weaknesses. So I am able to mould each one of you.

In other establishments, the spiritual heads do not know their devotees; they are always surrounded by some ‘elitist’ people. I know each one of you, right from who is adept in which song! No other spiritual establishment has learnt the art of volunteer service management like we have done. None else has mastered the technique of all-in-all spiritual management. We are a synergetic combination of everything that is good and of healthy organizational methods.

It is a special skill. And divine power is required to achieve this. Nothing can be accomplished by mere skill. There may be others with my type of qualification who may have travelled places like I have done. There may be perseverant workers, and public relations experts. But then, the power of penance is required to achieve what I have done. This does not happen to everyone. Like Thyagaraja (the music composer) implores Rama, ‘Grant me the bliss of serving you and also the fruit of my penance across various births’, it is the strength of my penance across ages that is helping me accomplish my mission

Take this instance. Someone gifted Samratchana a fig tree. We planned to install a kodi maram (dhvajasthambham; temple flagpole) in our temple at Kelambakkam (Chennai). The very next day, one of our volunteers fetched a sthapathi (temple architect). The sthapathi felt that a taller tree would suit the temple better. Any other spiritual head would have ordered for it through some middleman. I asked a volunteer who visits the forest office daily, to find availability of a suitable tree. I sent a similar message through one of our other volunteers to a retired forest officer in Mahendragiri hills (at Tirunelveli district in TamilNadu). Actually, I gave this task to six people. The retired officer from Mahendragiri informed me that such a tree can be obtained very easily at Nagercoil (another district in TamilNadu) for thirty thousand rupees inclusive of transport, and further requested me to accept this service as his contribution to our temple. One of the first estimates I received was for two and a half lakhs, see what a vast difference: more than eight times.

Any other spiritual establishment would have purchased a kodi maram for two and a half lakhs. Siva Shankar Baba, being a spiritualist with management skills, knows to delegate, and takes his decisions after considering all options.

This is the difference between Siva Shankar Baba, and the saints and gurus of yore and the contemporary. ****************************************************

How are you different from the saints and gurus of yore and from the contemporary ones?

Just look at me and you will know the difference. (Laughs)

I dress like any normal person. Yet, I have renounced everything. And I am more knowledgeable than most saints.

Basically I am a management man, whereas most of the spiritual leaders did/do not have any worldly exposure. Even saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who attained high levels of spirituality were ignorant in worldly ways. It is recorded that Kali (A Hindu deity; pronounced Kaali) told Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, ‘Son, you are spiritually evolved, no doubt. But these worldly people are cleverer than you are. They will trick you into conferring on them your grace. Transfer your powers to Vivekananda who is shrewder than you.’

Assume an illiterate person bags a lottery prize of ten crores. His lack of knowledge will prevent him from using that money wisely. Sycophants can easily fool a gullible person. In fact, by the time that ten crores reach him, he will be taken for a ride. This is how society is.

Penance yields grace. Grace by itself can achieve nothing. One must have the worldly knowledge to manage it. Grace is the language of the skies. Management is related to the world. Arunagirinatha (a Saivite saint) sang, ‘Muruga, you granted me rich knowledge. And then, you granted me the bliss of Your Love.’ It is God who mellows us enough to love Him. This stage is relevant to all Mahaans. But there is one aspect beyond that. The knowledge we have acquired must be used in the service of the Lord who granted it to us.

Take Samratchana and Ramarajya (spiritual complex). There are so many opportunities to do service. Before I give you any task, I must enrich your skills. Otherwise the work will suffer. Your thoughts are noble, you have come to render service, and you are in the good books of God, no doubt. But you must have the requisite skills for that job. If a small organization like ours cannot function without necessary skills, how can an unskilled person serve God’s mission? If you understand this comparison, you will comprehend why Lord Siva chose Siva Shankar Baba to serve Him in this Kaliyuga.

I do not deny that there have been and are great saints. God delegates tasks based on each one’s capacity.

Paramacharya explains in his book ‘Deivathin Kural’(God’s Voice): ‘Veda Ratchanam (preserving the Vedas) is an arduous task. I have devoted my entire lifetime to it’. His main portfolio was VedaRatchanam. Towards this, he motivated people to adopt the lifestyle of their ancestors, study Vedas and bequeath that experience to posterity.

I have often asked Ram Surat Kumar (a yogi who lived in Thiruvannamalai hills near Chennai) what his task was. He used to reply, ‘My father (Lord Annamalaiyar) has not given this beggar (he would always refer to himself that way) any work. He has asked me to sit here’. And that is what the yogi did for thirty-five years. Some rich people built an Ashram for him; else he was happy with chanting ‘Sri Rama Jayam’ (Victory to Sri Rama)

A switch on the Main board controls the flow of electric current. A transformer elsewhere supplies power to this switchboard. This transformer gets its supply from electricity projects like SriPerumbudur, Neyveli Lignite or Kundha Hydroelectric project. But all we see is the glowing light, the working microphone. We do not see the process.

Mahaans like Ram Surat Kumar are passive energy (matter, Shiva principle). God does not give them active roles. He occupies them in penance. I am dynamic energy (Shakthi). God engages us to accomplish His task. He has equipped me with the power of penance. I store it like generator fuel and use it for my portfolio management. If you observe the lives of Mahaan, you will understand each one has his way of working.

Vivekananda asked the Mahaan Bhavahari Baba, "I am rendering service to mankind. You are idle. Can you not do some service or start a movement?" to which Bhavahari Baba replied, "Let me relate a story. A thief was caught red-handed. The public cut his nose. Ashamed of his disfigurement, he hid himself in a forest. A group of woodcutters, taking him to be some saint, started glorifying him. In course of time, the congregation grew in numbers. One of them started imploring ‘the saint’ to accept him as his disciple. His pleas for a mantra intensified until one day the ‘saint’ took him aside, cut off his nose and said, ‘This is how I became a saint’. Narrating this story, Bhavahari Baba told Vivekananda, ‘Do you want me to lead one such group?’ "

When you look into the working patterns and results of various spiritual groups, you will understand why Siva Shankar Baba chose a particular lifestyle, a pattern of dressing, administrative setup and how Samratchana has evolved into a successful institution. You will not understand it otherwise. Future events will help you understand how Siva Shankar Baba has been different from others.

Even now, an elderly person raised a question, ‘You say that the path to Tirupathi will be blocked by natural circumstances and the world will start worshipping the Venkatachalapathy contained in your physical form. Why are you then projecting the idol at Kelambakkam instead of yourself?’ It is a very relevant question.

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