ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU

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ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU

With a compassion that is all embracing and an acute understanding of the

reality of human miseries and cravings, Baba invites his dependents even now to

go to him for all their needs. We are put in mind of the gracious Nazarene who

centuries ago walked the earth healing the sick, casting out error, and setting

at liberty those that were bruised; and through the passage of centuries also

comes echoing that intimate, powerful assurance: "Ask and it shall be given

unto you!" The Saint of Shirdi too gives today the same blessed assurance to

his ever increasing number of disciples, though he is not present in the flesh.

 

No craving is too insignificant, no problem of the human heart too trifling to

be brushed aside. To this Master Yogi in his supreme state of consciousness,

all wants are real, for do they not partake of the hidden and merciful Divine?

It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that in answer to the remonstrations of

a certain devotee who objected to people going to Baba for temporal benefits,

Baba gave his characteristic reply: "Do not do that. My men first come to me on

account of that only. They get their hearts' desires fulfilled, and comfortably

placed in life, they follow me and progress further."

In the last line of the Charter quoted above, however, lies also the clue to the

better understanding of Baba's methods. It is true the name of Shri Sai Baba has

become famed through out the length and breadth of the country for the countless

blessings he has poured on his devotees out of his boundless love for them. But

behind all this concession to the ordinary mortal's lowly needs are hidden deep

and far reaching effects. It is as if Baba were launching on purpose a strategic

campaign to win over his adversaries to his side. Once a man goes to Sai Baba,

he keeps on going irrevocably until the surrender is complete, for, with each

approach to the Master, there is a corresponding process of purification in the

seeker's heart; at first it is barely predictable, then it is conscious and

deliberate.

This is the secret behind Baba's wonderful leelas; this is the purpose for which

he encourages people to ask for the good things of life. Not to acquiesce in the

shortcomings of the earth-bound man, but on the contrary to draw him gradually

away from the world's maya is his ultimate purpose.

Unlike most yogis, therefore, Baba actively encourages the practice of going to

him for material favors. Indeed he even chides those who refrain from asking.

His attitude is that of the Universal Mother whose business is to tend and

fulfill all the wants of her children. But Baba knows too that a time will soon

come when the person himself will cease asking and will crave only for union

with the beloved Guru. In his incarnate person Baba embodied the conception of

Divine motherhood.

It is because of this idea that Baba called the Masjid where he was wont to sit

and preach by the name of Dwaraka Mayi. "Highly merciful is this Dwaraka Mayi,"

he said; " She is the mother of those who place their entire faith in her." This

spot too in Shirdi has become a holy landmark.

Perhaps it is the light of the Spirit that glimmers in its precincts waiting for

its hour to reveal itself fully to those who can assimilate it, that gives to

this durbar an atmosphere of intense sanctity. This sanctity is not only

acquired but somehow innate in the place itself. Baba often emphasized the

importance of Dwaraka Mayi and spoke of its purity as if the hall were

something apart from his own spiritual kingship. But it is in this spot that

the Great Master lived and passed away; it is here that he preached his

deathless gospel and performed his wonderful miracles. No wonder that the

atmosphere has absorbed all the glory of those sixty years of peerless guruship

when he inspired thousands to rise up in their own strength and freedom, to

conquer, and to create.

(Source: Sai Baba The Saint of Shirdi by Mani Sahukar)

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