Prasad - the Guru's Grace

[Guest guest]

The Guru's Grace

 

Many times during Swami's Darshan, I've received blessed Prasad.

Excited devotees would buy an assortment of delicious sweets, place

them on a shiny silver platter and carefully decorate the offering

with an abundance of colourful flowers. Often, by the side of the

sweets, lay packets of tiny golden lockets, letters and deity

statuettes all lovingly arranged for his attention.

 

Usually, the determined devotees would wait for days for a suitable

seating position where Swami could bless the platters. This would

mean re-arranging the sweets, and improving on their floral skills,

until finally, each platter resembled a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

 

Often, the devotee's efforts received Swami's blessings. He would

walk along until he reached a superbly decorated platter, stop, look

and bless the sweet offering. While doing so, he would take large

handfuls of the delicious selection and throw them over the seated

devotees. With loud aahs! and whoops of joy, and small gestures of

gratitude, the sweets would be accepted and passed around to others,

or sometimes kept for loved-ones and friends.

 

I remember many wonderful moments with Swami as he blessed sweets.

Frequently, he would throw them high into the air and one would land

on my head, chin, or nose. His favourite target seemed to be my

headband. Once, a sweet lodged itself between the folds of my shawl,

and not until I stood to leave, did it fall on to the floor where I

could retrieve it. But mostly, sweets would simply land in my lap or

even beneath my cushion; how they found their way there, I'll never

know. But always, I felt elated when a blessed sweet came my way. I

would keep my precious catch until a quiet moment, then eat it,

slowly savouring the delicate flavour.

 

On one occasion in 1992, when seated in the front line at Prasanthi

Nilayam, Swami came along and playfully tossed sweets to those

seated all around, but missed me altogether. It had been one of

those days when I had felt less than happy with myself and

therefore, undeserving of a blessed sweet. Mentally, I expressed to

Swami that I didnt deserve one.

 

Immediately, he turned and tossed, with determined accuracy, a large

toffee. The missile landed with a loud thud on my head, shattering

the silent moment. This of course, left me startled, because he had

read my mind!

 

Summer, 1995

During my summer visit last year, Swami blessed my sweet platter for

the last time. I remember the occasion well, for he had playfully

thrown the sweets back at me!

 

I had not been successful on my first attempt, for a very bewildered

Swami had been offered three platters, all at the same time. He had

chosen just one.

 

On another afternoon, I'd taken my sweets to darshan and again had

been unlucky. Fortunately, on my third attempt, I was lucky enough

to be seated near the verandah passage. I patiently waited through

the hot afternoon until after Bhajans when he would walk back to the

Poornachandra Hall.

 

When bhajans were over, Swami came from the temple and began his

stroll along the aisle, where I anxiously sat hoping for his

attention. He spotted my platter and indicated for me to hold it up

high. I immediately did so, and he, playfully picked up just a few

of the assortment and threw them back at me! I looked up to express

my thanks, and caught him smiling from ear to ear. I noticed the

luminescence of his dark eyes, and felt the immense heat radiating

from him by his nearness (a characteristic not often discussed by

Sai writers or devotees).

 

As he continued his walk down the aisle, I felt such deep gratitude,

I wanted to share the blessed sweets with everyone.

 

As I began to joyously distribute the sweets, a lady sitting behind

quietly refused the offering. I couldn't believe it! She had been

sitting there for hours, but now didn't want a blessed sweet. I

began to recalled a similar situation a week earlier, when I too,

had refused one.

 

On that particular occasion Swami had not thrown sweets, only

blessed them. The lucky recipient had offered sweets to those

sitting nearby. Somehow, one had been offered to me, but I refused.

I don't know why, perhaps because he had not thrown it directly to

me.

 

Now sitting there with my blessed platter, and painfully feeling the

rejection of my offering I instantly regretted not accepting the

blessed sweet from the previous week: for it is in the giving and

receiving, we truly show our appreciation of one another.

 

Blessed sweets are PRASAD a gift from the Guru; a gift that has the

power to change our lives. When a master gives food to his devotees,

he is in fact, giving of his energy. If we take Prasad with this

understanding, it can gladden our lives and bring us closer to him.

 

There is a verse in the Bhagavad Gita:

----------

Divine prasad removes all sorrows, all miseries, and it calms down

the heart completely...

----------

 

Here is a small story about the power of Prasad:

 

Once a young man came to the ashram of a master, because he was

suffering from despair. It really didn't matter what he did, the

despair continued to plague his life. Eventually he prayed for it to

be taken away, but nothing happened and the despair and suffering it

brought now intensified.

 

A woman devotee tried to comfort the lad, and having received some

blessed food, she broke it into pieces and gave some to him.

 

He ate a small piece of the food slowly and deliberately, when he

had finished, he found to his amazement the despair had disappeared.

He felt completely well.

 

No matter how we receive Prasad, or what form it takes, be it sweets

directly given to us by the Guru, or blessed food shared with us by

others, it is always full of Divine Energy. Having accepted such

blessings, we accept the Guru's grace. The secret is to appreciate

it.

 

A week after Swami blessed my sweet platter in 1995, he stopped

blessing sweets altogether - a delightful sharing of joy, now truly

missed.

 

I am writing this piece to thank Sri Sai Baba for the many beautiful

occasions, when he threw playfully, lovingly and sometimes tenderly,

his beloved Prasad. I will miss those shiny silver platters full of

sweets - dreadfully.

 

------------

Sacrifice is the best gift -baba

------------

 

Treat me not as one afar but as very close to you. Insist, demand,

claim Grace from Me; do not praise, extol and cringe. Bring your

hearts to Me and win My heart - Baba

[Guest guest]

zeera44 wrote:

 

...........I will miss those shiny silver platters full of sweets -

dreadfully.

 

 

Dearest zeera44,

 

We will ALL miss those wonderful nourishing silver platters of sweets

but your tender message has been prasad for me this morning. Thank you

so very much for sharing your memories.

 

Jai Sai Ram,

Shawn

[Guest guest]

The Guru's GraceMany times during Swami's Darshan, I've received blessed Prasad.

Excited devotees would buy an assortment of delicious sweets, place them on a

shiny silver platter and .........

 

 

Sai Ram

 

At that point of time - it used to be very refreshing to witness the shower of

sweets. Seeing from a distance - the mens side - it was amazing where all the

shining toffees went - and many a times they travelled a long distance back to

land on the preferred devotee - it was very amazing.

 

But to me the most amazing story related to the 'toffees or sweets' - is of a

group who had come from UK - very disciplined - like good devotees - all the

ladies wore white sarees and their blue scarfs stood apart for other loosely

hung scarfs - more like bandanas that one gets to witness from some countries

these days. This group would always come together from their roomes for darshan

and would even sit together - they reflected UNITY.

 

In one of the years this group was nowhere near the 'shower' when it came from

the divine hands. But one toffee landed in the UK group of ladies sitting a

little away. I was later told on the mens side by a devotee from UK - that the

ladies reverentially carried the toffee from His Hands to their rooms and with

a blade divided the toffee into 36 parts - so all could partake the divine

prasad. This is a very high level of devotion and discipline.

 

I wonder if the author of the original passage has any more info on this story.

 

Sai Ram - Be Happy

 

JP

www.sailopics.com