PRAY WITH INTENSE FAITH

[Guest guest]

PRAY WITH INTENSE FAITH

Baba said, "Place entire faith in Me and you will soon get your object" in Sri

Sai Satcharitra, ch. XLVIII.

A long time ago, there was a severe draught in certain parts of India. One

village in particular was caught up right in the middle of this draught belt.

The economy of this village was entirely dependent on agricultural produce.

Without rains, the villagers faced a bleak future, indeed. The extreme heat of

the sun had dried up the rivers and the lakes. There was hardly any water left

in the wells. The people were really desperate for water.

The villagers approached the village pundit (priest) and asked him to organise a

prayer-for- rain meeting in the temple. The whole village turned out at this

prayer meeting. One man was among the last group of people who arrived at the

temple and every body with strange quizzical looks on their faces, was looking

at this one man. This man was carrying an umbrella and he was the only man who

brought his umbrella to this prayer meeting. No villager was ever seen carrying

an umbrella outside of the rainy seasons. To the villagers, it was as strange as

seeing a housewife going everyday to the vegetable market dressed in a bride’s

costume! For it seemed unconventional to carry an umbrella when there was not

one rain cloud in the sky.

The prayer meeting commenced and at the end of all the rituals and ceremonies,

when people were about to leave the temple, they could not hold back their

curiosity about the man and his umbrella.

‘Why was he carrying the umbrella?’ the people asked.

Upon being questioned, the man with the umbrella replied:

"The Lord will provide. He gives and He takes away. The Lord will surely answer

our prayers for rain and I will need the umbrella for the rains".

The villagers laughed him off. Not one of the villagers could appreciate the

absolute and sincere faith of the man with the umbrella. The scorching heat of

the sun outside the temple was still fresh in their minds.

And then……..

Behold, a miracle took place. As the people were streaming out of the temple

door and putting on their shoes, rain clouds appeared in the sky, the gentle

breeze gave way to gusting winds, the pallor of the sky darkened and thunder

and lightning heralded the coming of the rains. And a sudden downpour opened

the eyes of the villagers. Their ridicule of the man with the umbrella changed

to amazement, disbelief, and they now understood the intense faith of this man.

All the villagers agreed that it was the sincere prayer of this one man with his

total faith and devotion that the Lord simply had to answer.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Let us never forget that the secret of a carefree life is to walk with God today

and trust Him for tomorrow.

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya .......

Question: Does the sage use occult powers for making others realise the Self, or

is the mere fact of his Self-realisation enough for it?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The force of his Self-realisation is far more powerful than

the use of all other powers.

Though Siddhis are said to be many and different, Jnana (knowledge) alone is the

highest of those many different Siddhis, because those who have attained other

Siddhis will desire Jnana. Those who have attained Jnana will not desire other

Siddhis. Therefore aspire only for Jnana.

Although the powers appear to be wonderful to those who do not possess them, yet

they are only transient. All these wonders are contained in the one changeless

Self.

Greedily begging for worthless occult powers (Siddhis) from God, who will

readily give Himself, who is everything, is like begging for worthless stale

gruel from a generous natured philanthropist who will readily give everything.

In the Heart, which catches fire with the blazing flame of supreme devotion, all

the occult powers will gather together. However, with a heart that has become a

complete prey to the feet of the Lord, the devotee will not have any desire for

those Siddhis. Know that if aspirants who are making efforts on the path to

liberation set their heart upon occult powers, their dense bondage will be

strengthened more and more, and hence the lustre of their ego will wax more and

more.

The attainment (Siddhi) of Self, which is the perfect whole, the radiance of

liberation, alone is the attainment of true knowledge, whereas the other kinds

of Siddhi, beginning with Anima (the ability to become as small as an atom)

belong to the delusion of the power of imagination of the foolish mind.

People see many things which are far more miraculous than the so-called Siddhis,

yet do not wonder at them simply because they occur every day. When a man is

born he is no bigger than this electric bulb, but then he grows up and becomes

a giant wrestler, or a world-famed artist, orator, politician or sage. People

do not view this as a miracle but they are wonder struck if a corpse is made to

speak.

 

 

Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Enter now.