What is the centre of your life?

[Guest guest]

Dear Young Brothers and Sisters,

In this edition of Tender Hearts, we bring to you a very inspiring talk given in

Swami's Presence by a young student, in April 2003. He asks us…….

'WHAT IS THE CENTRE OF YOUR LIFE?'

Let me begin by telling you a little story, a story of a tree. This species of

tree is supposed to be the largest and the highest in the plant kingdom. It is

called the Giant Redwood tree. This tree grows in certain parts of the North

American continent. This tree reaches the height of over a hundred feet. It's

girth is expansive, its strength is immense. In the bark of the tree is a

certain substance called tannin that gives it the red colour. Also, it gives

the tree a lot more security. Fire cannot burn this tree, nor can water wet it.

This tree is like each and every one of us in our youth - strong and invincible.

But what brings the downfall of this tree? This tree grows higher and higher.

Thereafter, it falls down because it cannot bear its own weight. Why? The tree

has shallow roots.

No matter what we are in our lives, no matter how strong, young and powerful we

are, if our roots are not deep enough, we will fall. Our Lord said this morning

that youth is the foundation of life. If this foundation is not strong enough,

if it does not go deep enough, the building of our life will collapse when even

a small earth-shake strikes.

Where should we base this foundation of our lives ? Generally we seek an

education as the base of this foundation. We think that education will give us

knowledge, wisdom and intelligence so that the foundation of our lives is

strong, so that we will be strong.

It was when we were primary school students in Swami's school. One day Swami

came to our school and said, "Boys! The education for which you have come here

is like idli and all that I teach you is like

chutney." One of the boys remarked, "Swami, idli is supposed to be the main dish

and chutney 'is only the side dish. Your Love, Your teachings are like the

idli and the worldly education is like

chutney." To this, Swami replied, "Oh! No!" But the boys argued, "Swami, you are

more important to us. You are like the

idli, the world is like the

chutney." After some time. Swami looked at us with a smile and said, "See,

without the chutney,

idli is bland, tasteless and useless." Without Swami's Love, without His

teachings, without Swami in our lives, our lives are bland and useless.

Let us ask ourselves, "What will be our lives without Swami?" Our roots will be

as shallow as those of the red wood tree. Any breeze will blow us down, even a

small gust of wind will bring us down to the earth.

In our lives, at this age, we always seek a good piece of earth where we can

strike our roots, we seek a centre of our lives. Many a time, the youngsters

outside choose a wrong centre for their lives.

I'll give you a small exercise. Just close your eyes and think for yourselves.

What is the thing that drives you every day? Who is the person that influences

every action of yours? Are our parents the centre of our lives? Or are our

friends the centre of our lives? Please remember, God is our only true friend.

In other words, what should be the centre of our lives? We need a centre that

is the strongest. We need Sai as the centre of our lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are very lucky. We are a generation on this earth

blessed with a very rare

opportunity. Where has been an Avathar so easily accessible to the millions,

especially to people like us? If we make Him the centre of our lives, our lives

will acquire some value.

It was a day in Kodaikanal. Swami asked me,

"Are you ready to do whatever I say?"

"Yes Swami, I am ready," I replied.

With a smile, Swami said, "All right, are you sure?"

I said, "Sure. Swami, I will do whatever You say."

"Then go to the terrace and jump down," said the Lord.

I was stunned. Swami had asked me to do something which I would never do in my

senses. I looked into Swami's eyes, I had given my word to Swami, I had to do

whatever He commanded me.

I got up and made a dash to the stairs. But before I could get to the foot of

the stairs, Swami grabbed me in His arms. He looked at me and said, "Bangaru, I

will never ask you to do such a thing. Even if you jump down, before you reach

the ground, 1 will come with My arms to catch you."

Dear brothers and sisters, we need a centre that will never let go of us. We

need a centre whom we will never let go of.

The incident did not stop there. The next day we were serving breakfast in the

dining hall. That day, the item for breakfast was brinjal rice. Swami came to

me with His mysterious smile and asked,

"Are you ready to do whatever I say?"

This time, I was silent. I didn't have the courage to speak out.

"I won't ask you to jump from the terrace, will you do whatever I say?"

I said, "Swami, I will." The events of the previous evening had given me much confidence.

Swami looked at me, pointed to the bucket of brinjal-rice kept there and said,

"Sit down and eat the entire bucket of brinjal-rice." Brinjal was not exactly

my favourite vegetable. I looked pleadingly at Swami. Swami smiled, everyone

around had a hearty laugh. Then He stopped. The chutney was being added to my

breakfast when He said, "Bangaru, if you want to make Swami happy, you need not

jump from the terrace or eat buckets of brinjal-rice. You need not do anything

great. Just be good.... Just be good... That's all I want from you."

If we have such a centre that will hold us so strong, that will inspire so much

of goodness and godliness in us, do we need to ask for anything more?

We all believe in the law of Karma and the doctrine of rebirth. We have been

here many times before. We have messed up all our previous births, that is why

we are here again. This is one chance when we can live differently. We might

have had different centres in our lives previously - money, power or anything

of that sort. But we are given a chance again, just to live correctly.

This time, God is here with us, to teach us how to lead our lives. Is it not

prudent on our part to go on to Him, to make Him the centre of our lives, to

make this the last life which we will live gloriously to the end, doing His

work, being inspired by His teachings, living our lives for Sai and making

Sai's message our lives?

The opportunity is our's. The Lord is gifting Himself to us. He is standing with

open arms saying, "Come, my children, Be a part of My Mission. Make your life

different." Whatever we do in His Name is for ourselves so that our lives will

become more worthwhile.

Make Sai the centre of your lives. We have all come here for a task and our Lord

is ready to give Himself to us. Let us seize this opportunity, let us mould our

lives into something which God will feel proud about.

Jai Sairam

http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/07Dec01/08_TENDER_HEARTS/hearts.htm

[Guest guest]

Sairam everyOne,

After reading "what is the centre of your life?" the following thoughts/memories

came to my mind. During this Sankranthi (Jan 2005) i had the opportunity to be

at Prasanthi Nilayam and heard an incident there. It goes something like

this...(in my own words, which may not be able to describe the exact

incident)...

Once one of Swami's student goes to Swami and tell him, "Swami, am willing to do

anything for you. Even, die for you."

Swami, the Love incarnation, tells this young student, "Bangaru...don't die for

me, Live for me."

---

Dear Young Brothers and Sisters,

In this edition of Tender Hearts, we bring to you a very inspiring talk given in

Swami's Presence by a young student, in April 2003. He asks us…….

'WHAT IS THE CENTRE OF YOUR LIFE?'

Let me begin by telling you a little story, a story of a tree. This species of

tree is supposed to be the largest and the highest in the plant

kingdom.................