IIT Professor meets Sri Sathya Sai Baba

[Guest guest]

IT IS "SAI RAM" THAT IS WRITTEN BELOW IN AN ARTISTIC WAY

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---------------O Master, O friend of those

that bow to thee, thouocean of mercy, I bow to thee; save me, fallen asI am

into this sea of birth and death, with astraightforward glance of thine eye,

which shedsnectar-like grace supreme. - Vivekacudamani 1.35

COLLECTION: PREETHAM SAI P.V.

MANGALORE,INDIA,

IIT PROFESSOR MEETS SATHYA SAI"The atheists wish to say GOD IS NO WHERE,

whereas, the theists wishto say GOD IS NOW HERE. The beauty is that both state

what they wishto say by using the same words, least realizing the fact that

they aredoing so, just by associating the letter with either the word NO

orwith the word HERE," said Bhagavan on Sunday the 21st January 1979

atBrindavan during an interview that He graciously granted to a group

ofscientists. Who are the lucky few that got this rare and preciousopportunity

to sit in the presence of Bhagavan is not important;but what is important is :

`What message did they receive from Baba?'To reproduce verbatim what Bhagavan

said is like trying to build abridge across the ocean. We shall endeavour

to present what Hetold this group in summary form; we hope readers

of Sanathana Sarathiwill benefit from it. It was Sunday; about 15 of us

gathered in theBhajan Pandal of Brindavan and we were asked to sit together so

that wecould move en bloc if Swami gives the green signal. At about 9 AMBhajan

started and the crisp and cool winds in Brindavan were sooncarrying the

devotional music to the nooks and corners of the world.Soon the Bhajan tempo

increased and suddenly every head turned towardsthe main building wherefrom,

like the rising Sun, Bhagavan made Hisappearance bringing joy and light to the

hundreds of devotees gatheredin Brindavan.After giving darshan to the many

devotees who were waiting near thegates of the main building, Bhagavan made

His way slowly and steadilytowards the Bhajan. Soon He was standing in front of

us and enquiredwhether all of our party had come, and when the answer was in

theaffirmative, He told one of the volunteers to

guide us to the room where the interview was to held. We waited for some time

outside the room while Baba completed His meeting with other devotees. After

sometime the room was opened by Baba Himself and He asked us to comeinside.

He addressed everyone as "Bangaroo" and He admitted us into that room,

extending to us the most affectionate welcome that we have ever witnessed in

our lifetime. All of us were overwhelmed. With the last man in, Baba moved

from the door towards His chair and suddenly He called the name of one of us as

if He had known him for ages. Naturally the concerned person was overjoyed and

he prostrated before the Lotus Feet of Baba. Then Baba asked the people to raise

any subject they choose. Some people put questions relating to their personal

affairs and Bhagavan answered them most affectionately. In fact Bhagavan

assured

that He would meet us individually to listen to personal matters some other

time, thus suggesting that we better concentrate during this interview on more

general matters. Of course, even after this assurance, when some of us

persisted out of genuine anxiety in asking questions about our personal

matters He did not dissuade us at all; on the contrary He tried to comfort us

by pouringlove and affection. We realized that for the Anandaswarup it is

butnatural to comfort, console and protect those in distress. Baba, however,

utilized the opportunity, while answering some personalquestions, to bring home

the point that one should not get overjoyed while experiencing pleasure and

get depressed while experiencing pain.He pointed out that between two pleasures

there will be always pain and vice versa. One should experience both pleasure

and pain with

equanimity. Also He emphasized that all humans being the children of God are

inherently GOOD and Satsangh, good company, is the elixir for the growth of

goodness in a person. That is why He often says: Do Good, See Good and Be

Good. As is characteristic of Baba, Heexplained the meaning of all His

statements with examples from dailylife. Continuing on the theme that human

life is precious and unique and thatpleasure and pain are integral parts of

life, He extolled the virtue inbeing a human by saying : "Humans and animals

are equal in all respects except for the difference that Man has been endowed

with the capacity to think and reflect". He told us that He addresses

everyoneas Bangaru because He knows that all humans are as precious as Gold.But

then, Gold has to be heated and treated in order to be converted into jewelry.

Man also must undergo similar processes in order to become

useful to himself and society.Baba stressed the importance of the quest through

Sadhana for self- realization. There are three important stages in the process

of self-realization and they can be considered in terms of Dwaitha, Adwaitha and

Visishtadwaitha. To illustrate these three aspects He gave three different but

very striking examples. "Each of you is three persons, not one," He said.

"What you think are, What others think youare and who you actually are". The

first stage is, as Jesus said, that"I am the servant of God". The next one

is the Visishtadwaithastage: "I am son of God". At last the Adwaitha stage:

"I and myfather are one" is reached. So too the sadhana stages of I am in the

light, the light is in me, I am the light.Baba explained with more examples how

the endeavors of self-realization get constrained or hindered by the growth of

attachment to

the material world. He emphasized that everyone should try- by cultivating

proper methods of Sadhana- to reduce his attachment and allow the growth of an

attitude of detachment towards worldly things. He pointed out that attachment

to worldly things is the single source of unhappiness for the human race. Baba

explained that Man, because of his attachment to the material world, tends to

get distracted from the path of Dharma in order to amass wealth. What a

beautiful couplet He devised to condemn the blind rush of Man to amass wealth:

"Money comes and goes; Morality comes and grows," He said. Further He said:

"But still man prefersmoney to morality and discipline."Bhagavan emphasized the

importance of Mauna (silence) as one of the constituents of Sadhana for

self-realization. He pointed out that it is not Mauna if one keeps his mouth

closed but has the switch of the mind `ON'. Actually the real state of Mauna

is when you shut off thewandering mind. This is very important because it

allows one tocultivate the all important habit of concentration. From

concentration one graduates to the stage of contemplation and finally to the

stage of meditation. At this point, one of us asked : How can one make his

Bhakthi grow ? Bhagavan said Bhakti can be allowed to grow by Sadhana and

conscientious effort, like any other trait of a human being. One canincrease

his Bhakthi, quantum by quantum through disciplined behaviorand attachment to

God.Then the discussion turned towards the Scientists and a question was asked:

Are we trying conscientiously to orient our educational methods to turn out

scientists who perforce should disbelieve and deny the existence of God?

Bhagavan replied that while

there appears to be that sort of a trend now-a-days, He does not believe that

there is any atheist. It is His assertion that man may choose, for material

reasons to play the role of an atheist, but every man knows in hisheart that he

is the son of a supreme father and hence he must believein His existence. It is

becoming a fashion to call oneself arationalist. But science and

spirituality are like the two halves ofa circle and one is incomplete without

the other. Baba emphasized, bygiving Einstein as example, that an accomplished

scientist will behumble enough to accept the necessity of spirituality and the

existenceof God.At this juncture someone said: Swami I could not understand

what you have said. But in summary you seem to say Science is a tool. If we

use it with love it is good. If we use it with ego or greed it is bad. Am I

right? Baba replied that it is right not

only in the case of scientific endeavor but true in the case of all human

endeavors. In fact love is everything and all problems of this world could

only be solved through Love. He said: "How can Peace be established if

politicians talk about Peace with bombs in their hands, which the scientists

have helped them to possess. There are many ways through which a scientist can

utilize his knowledge for constructive purposes such as improving the health,

sanitation and nutrition of our people. Every man (be he a scientist, an

artisan, a farmer) has a role to play in promoting the welfare of society and

he can play this role effectively if he cultivates Love towards his fellow

human beings and treats them as his brethren." Baba closed the interview,

saying: "There is only one caste and that is

the caste of humanity. There is only one religion and that is the religion of

Love" .Thus came to an end the most memorable interview with Bhagavan. Then He

distributed prasadam. We all came out wishing that the interview hadnever come

to an end. -Prof. S. V. Pappu Indian

Institute of Science as appears in Sanathana Sarathi

March, 1979