Glorious Sai - His Love [Part 2 of 6]

[Guest guest]

GLORIOUS SAI - HIS LOVE

This cover story is in six parts. The below is the first part, which is a

Preamble to the rest of the five parts. Click on the links below to read the

other parts.

 

 

 

 

His Methodology

Once, many years ago, when Baba was asked about His 'methodology', He said,

"I have no methodology or machinery or strategy in the accepted organisational

sense. My methodology is a simple one, based on conversion by love, and the

machinery is one of human co-operation and brotherhood. Love is My instrument

and My merchandise."

 

It is this love that prompts Him to speak to each seeker in a language that he

can understand - Swahili in East Africa, Spanish to devotees from Argentina and

Adi to tribals from Along ( Northeast India ). It is this love that persuades

Him to heal our physical and mental wounds and then inspire us to grow

spiritually. It is this love again that illumines the darkness of our hearts

and corrects the crookedness of our habits and attitudes. Again it is this love

that performs miraculous cures of terminal diseases, and saves countless of us

from accidents and disasters. It is this irresistible love that breathes new

life into our being through just one look, one glance or one word and we are

never the same again!

Ask any devotee who has been touched by His love and he will say, “It is an

experience that I cannot ever convey through spoken words…it is such an

emotional and uniting experience…it is like a child uniting with his mother…

after years of toil and turmoil.”It can be expressed only through the universal

language of tears….tears of joy, tears of a never-before-felt happiness, tears

teeming with emotion and deep love!

 

His Love…Spontaneous and Selfless

Swami’s love always has been universal and spontaneous with no barriers. The

spontaneity with which He goes out to serve the downtrodden, the eagerness with

which He reaches out to speak to someone in need, the joy with which He smiles

with a person with physical disabilities, arm in arm (the blind cannot see, but

they can surely feel His love, isn’t it?), the undiluted bliss with which He

talks to the orphans and distributes clothes and sweets besides constructing a

school and a home for them (they have now become God’s own children), the sweet

innocence coupled with a bewitching smile with which He talks to a tiny-tot….all

these are just a few, very few, instances of what His love is made up of.

 

 

 

 

 

His Love…So Pristine and Pure, Childlike

It is said that in the innocent and innocuous face of a child you can see the

face of God. And how true it is! Even the reverse of this is so true. If you

look at the face of God, you can see the clean and crystalline countenance of a

small child. And why will it not be? For, there is so much likeness between the

two.

Let’s just think, why are kids so lovable? Hmm ...Because they are so innocent.

Because they are so pure. Because they have no grudge against anybody. Because

they are so simple. Because they know no manipulation. Because they do not know

what is ego. Because they love everybody. Because they play and frolic with

anybody, showing no distinction. Because they know no hatred or greed. Because

they only know to receive love and return love. Their mind is guileless and

their heart, stainless. They can only spread happiness and joy all around.

And if you ponder for a while, you will agree that it is the same with God too.

One day many years ago, Swami distributed ice-cream to the boys. The brand name

was JOY ice-cream, and it was gifted by a devotee who owned the company. While

boys were enjoying the ice-cream, Baba went round as usual, asking the boys how

they liked the ice-cream. And then suddenly He asked a boy,

"Boy what do you think God is like?"

The boy was taken aback. He was fully immersed in enjoying ice-cream, and God

was, at least at that moment, far from his mind! Swami asked another boy the

same question, and he too blinked. After drawing a blank response a few more

times, Swami smiled and slowly said,

"God is SWEET like ice-cream!"

The boys became attentive. Swami continued,

"God is SOFT like ice-cream!"

By now, the boys had stopped eating, while Swami went on,

"God is COOL like ice-cream!" And then the punch line: "He gives JOY like ice-cream!"

What a delightful play on words! Truly, His love is as universal as the child’s.

His heart is as pristine, His looks as serene, His nature as gentle, His words

as simple and His smile, as exciting and as thrilling!

[We have dealt with this childlike aspect of our Beloved Lord Sai in great

detail in the cover story of our issue on Aug 1st 2004. You can go here to read

that again.]

The Testimony of an Aura Expert

If we ask ourselves what is so special about Swami’s love? And then look deep

within ourselves….we will know it is essentially His selflessness, His love is

as selfless as it can be.

While each one of us has experienced it in our hearts and minds this love… so

pure and so arresting, Frank Baranowski has proved it scientifically for the

whole world.

Professor Frank Baranowski, a psychologist and regression therapist from the

University of Arizona, specializes in research on auras (the energy pattern

surrounding the human body) and this is what he recounts on seeing Swami many

years ago in Brindavan, Baba’s Ashram in Bangalore.

He says,

“I have always been able to see the human aura, that is, the energy pattern

which surrounds a person. The auras around average people extend as much as

three to five feet. Auras are composed of every imaginable colour and these

colours change as a person's emotional, physical and mental states change. In

general, whenever the colour blue is evident in a person's aura, it is an

indication of deep spirituality; green is a healing color; yellow indicates

high intelligence; and red means anger or frustration.

The colour pink, which is rarely seen, typifies a person capable of selfless

love, this was the colour that Sathya Sai Baba had around Him. The aura around

Sathya Sai Baba went beyond the building against which He stood; this energy

field reached thirty or forty feet in all directions. Never having seen any

aura like this before, my first reaction was to look for fluorescent lights,

which may have been shining on Him. But as I watched, the beautiful pink energy

pattern moved as He moved, there was no doubt, this was His aura….

…As He walked among them, the beautiful pink colour in His aura permeated the

violent red colours in the crowd. His selfless love transcended their fears and

worries….you have to meet this man to understand His gifts. He gives of himself

to thousands of people from all around the world who await his blessings.

 

I was not brought up in any belief, though I am a Christian by birth and a Roman

Catholic. The scientific community in my country finds it difficult to accept

God. ‘It is not scientific,’ they assert. The aura that Swami projects is not

that of a man…. Two days ago, right outside this hall, I looked into His eyes.

They had a glow in them. It was clear to me that I had looked into the face of

Divinity. If ever I can use the phrase, 'I have seen Love walking on two feet',

it is here."

The living embodiment of all love and grace, our beloved Sai is giving away so

much positive energy every time He comes out for Darshan, whether we ask for it

or not, whether we deserve it or not. In His infinite compassion, He overlooks

our deficiencies, our shortcomings. What does He ask in return for all this

grace?

Ask the devotees who had had the opportunity to speak to Him and they will tell

you how so many times they have asked Swami if they can do anything for Him and

He would invariably say - “You just be good, be happy. I do not want anything

else.”

This is love for love’s sake, isn’t it? It is a Love that is truly genuine and

utterly selfless, selflessness forms the nadir and the zenith of this love.

 

His Grand Service Projects

It is this penchant for serving mankind selflessly that prompted Baba to open

Super Specialty Hospitals in Puttaparthi and Bangalore which offer free medical

care to the poorest of the poor. What you offer to the needy should be what you

would offer to your own son or daughter, Swami has always insisted. And true to

His message Swami’s hospitals offer the best treatment possible with the latest

technology, equipments, et al for no charge whatsoever. Aiding the treatment,

of course, is His Divine Grace.

 

 

The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi (left) and Bangalore (right)

When Swami decided to offer pure drinking water to all dry and arid areas of

Anantapur in March 1995, one million people in more than 700 villages who used

to travel miles for a pot of water everyday, now had water at their doorstep!

And that in just nine months! It was at a cost of US$ 70 million. The Prime

Minister of India, who inaugurated the project, said, "Anantapur has now become

‘Anandpur’" (meaning, the city of joy!).

What is more heart warming is that without a second thought Swami extended this

project to another 300 villages in Medak and Mahabubnagar district when

villagers from those areas expressed their wish.

And more recently in 2002 the people of the city of Chennai were blessed when

Swami, quite unexpectedly, announced the drinking water project for the city of

Chennai, a city in South India well-known for its water-nightmares. More than

US$60 million was spent to reconstruct the Kondaleru-Poondi canal and once and

for all after more than fifty years the water-starved city was free from

water-stress.

The saga of selfless service of the Lord is never ending. Now there is again a

free drinking water supply project on for the upland and water-starved remote

areas of East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh commemorating His

80th Birthday.

Divine Love and Compassion are not abstract qualities, we know now. They are as

real as the Sun and the moon and reveal themselves magnificently as Selfless

Service. Swami often tells us: “You are not just human. You are in fact

Divine.”

And it is to help us discover this latent Divinity in us that He constantly

exhorts: “Help ever, hurt never; Love all, serve all.”

The Highest Expression of Selfless Love - Service

Service is the highest expression of selfless love. It is for ourselves more

than for others, Swami has explained to us many times.

Many years ago, when late Dr. Fanibanda asked Bhagavan: “Swami, what is the

purpose of the Seva Organisation?”

Swami replied, “Nothing.”

The good doctor was knocked out by this most unexpected reply! Recovering from

the shock, Dr. Fanibanda then hesitantly asked, “Nothing Swami? How could that

be? There must be some reason.”

Swami, then smiled and said,

“Yes, there is a reason. I founded this Organisation so that you might improve yourself!”

Indeed, and that is why it is often said: “Do not talk about the service you

have done. Instead, reflect on what service has done to you!”

How significant are these words! A whole new perspective to love and service!

 

“Students Are My Life” - Baba

If there is a community which is singularly fortunate in the present times, it

is the students of Swami’s school and the college, undoubtedly. For, as Swami

has told many times and even very recently during Dasara celebrations, 2005,

“Students are My Life”.

Yes, there is nobody more dear to Him than His students. Just like all great

masters of yore, a lion’s share of His time is always for the young minds and

understandably so as they are the torchbearers of His mission.

There will be harmony in the family and peace in the nation, Swami says, only

when the students’ higher nature is fostered and encouraged to blossom by means

of study, prayer and spiritual practice along with quality secular education. To

instill self-confidence in them and drive them towards self-realisation has been

Swami’s tireless effort right from His childhood. Then it was only a few

classmates for the young Sathya, now it is thousands of students from His

schools and colleges. His enthusiasm remains the same, His perseverance remains

the same, His mission remains the same.

Finest Moments of Love….

This incident happened a few years ago. A student had just joined the Brindavan

campus of the Institute and one morning he is told that Swami has sent

something for him. Surprised, he opens the pack and then completely breaks

down. Nobody quite understood what was happening. The boy had not disclosed to

anyone that his mother had just passed away and everyday the thought of his

mother would devastate him. When he opened the pack and saw a ponds cream

there, he was overwhelmed with Swami’s omniscience and love because it was his

mother who would put cold cream on his lips everyday when he was at home and

his Sai Mother was now there to take care of him and knew everything about him.

Another interesting incident concerns a student from Prashanthi Nilayam campus

who was suffering from asthma. His illness did not allow him to go to the

Mandir for darshan and one evening, feeling very frustrated with himself, he

went to the dining hall of the hostel where there was a big picture of Swami

and cried his heart out to Him. Immediately, there is a call for him from the

Mandir and as soon as he reaches there, Swami calls him to the interview room.

Swami tells him that he should give Him his asthma. What the boy needs to

suffer for the whole year, Swami says, He could suffer it for one minute. The

boy pleads against it because he did not want Swami to suffer even for a

moment. But Swami out of His love absorbs the boy’s asthma into

Himself and the student is cured for ever.

Such are the finest moments of love that weave the special relationship that

exists between Swami and students…it is this purely selfless love of Swami that

strikes a chord in their heart, every student will tell you. His pure love is

like the philosopher’s stone. Once touched by His love, every student is

transformed…they are unmade and remade the way they ought to be.

For every student it is these moments of love - a small interaction, a beautiful

smile, a motherly care and concern, a friendly quip, a divine revelation – all

these and more, which are his life’s precious treasure…his eternal source of

strength and inspiration, physical distance from Swami being no barrier.

In the modern world, we have institutions who try to mould the character of the

student at the school level but there is hardly anyone except Swami who is

everyday counseling and correcting the students at the graduation and

post-graduation level, and with tremendous success. So, what is the key to this

success? Undoubtedly it is His pure selflessness.

All the education in Sai’s educational institutions – be it kindergarten courses

to masters degrees and doctoral works – all education is provided absolutely

free. “Be Good. Get a good name for your parents. Get a good name for your

country,” is all Baba would ask from every student leaving the comfort of His

Lotus Feet into the wide world after his education. It is these loving words

which become a constant spring of joy and an eternal mission for every student.

One can go on and on talking about Swami’s love because everything that Swami

does always has love as the inner basis. It is for this reason that Swami says,

"To grasp My Meaning, you have to tear into tatters the doubts and diversions

that you now indulge in and develop divine love. For, the embodiment of love

can be known only through wisdom and pure love…."

- Heart2Heart Team

Go to the links below to read the other parts of this cover story

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine November 2005 Issue

http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_03/11NOV01/coverstory_glorious_Sai_love.htm