Sai Baba Gita - Keep the Atma in View and Nothing can Harm You

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Keep the Atma in View and Nothing can Harm You

Wisdom is seeing the one everywhere. That all-pervasive unity is the atma. Seek

out this unity and keep it constantly in view. When all your actions are based

on the atma, they become sacred and pure. When all your activities are

performed for the sake of the atma or for the pleasure of God, then you become

sanctified and filled with spiritual wisdom. A number of sages, right from

ancient days, have made heroic efforts to attain this supreme state of being

immersed in the highest wisdom.

Once upon a time, the King of Greece, Alexander, reached the banks of the great

river on the north-western border of India. He intended to enter India, to

conquer and plunder it. For this purpose he had come with a mighty army. In

those days there were no royal roads; the few roads that existed were more like

footpaths. The king crossed the banks of the river and entered the forest with

his army. The scouts preceding the army found a yogi lying under a tree, with

his legs spread out across the path, deep in sleep. This yogi had attained the

stage of enlightenment; he was a truly wise man.

One soldier went up and awakened the yogi and commanded him to move out of the

path. But the yogi was totally indifferent to the orders given by the soldier.

He did not move. The Greek soldier started threatening the yogi and boasted

that the great emperor of Greece, Alexander, was coming with his army and that

this emperor had decided to invade India and plunder the entire nation.

While the soldier was shouting at this yogi, Alexander arrived on the scene. The

Greek soldier was enraged to see that even after the emperor had come, this yogi

remained completely unconcerned. The yogi was not paying the proper respect and

courtesy due to the emperor. At this, the soldier threatened to cut off the

yogi's head. The moment the yogi heard that the enraged Greek soldier wanted to

cut off his head, he started laughing and stood up. On the yogi's face there was

no trace of fear. He was amused, but at the same time he remained completely

serene. The emperor saw the great effulgence on the yogi's face and spoke to

him. "My soldier has just threatened to cut off your head and yet you seem very

happy and unaffected. If you were an ordinary person you would immediately fall

at his feet, beg for pardon and try to save your life. But you are only

smiling. What is the meaning of your behavior?"

The yogi replied, "I am the eternal truth. I am pure awareness. I am infinite

bliss. I am forever free. Your weapons cannot harm me. Fire cannot burn me.

Water cannot wet me. Wind cannot blow me away. I was never born and I will

never die. I am the immortal atma, the one true self. I am indestructible.

Thinking that I am just this body, your soldier is threatening to destroy me by

cutting the head off this body. Isn't that ludicrous? Hearing this provoked me

to laughter."

When the emperor heard these words he was astounded. He thought to himself, 'It

is natural for people to get frightened when someone threatens to kill them and

they are about to face death, but rarely will anyone laugh and be so happy when

they are about to die. In India there are people who have attained such a high

spiritual state that they are not even afraid of death. How can I conquer a

nation such as this? No, I won't succeed here with my weapons.' Having

concluded that India could not be subdued by him, he turned his army around and

penetrated no further into India.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita175.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

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