Restoring Dharma (Contd....)

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About 1886, this great saint said to Mahalsapathy, one of His great

devotees, "I am going to Allah now. I shall not return for three days. "

Soon after, the physical body of the saint became a corpse with no life or

animation. His devotees took care of the body for three days praying to the

saint to return as promised. So at the end of three days the body began to

show signs of life. Slowly the saint opened his lustrous eyes and beheld all

around Him.

People belonging to different castes and creeds began to flock to Him in

large numbers for spiritual advice. The saint had the same respect for all

castes and creeds. He strongly advised His bhaktas not to forsake the Gods

of their faith, but to worship them in all sincerity and devotion. He

preached that the goal of all the religions was one and the same, namely the

attainment of mukti. He was not a believer in proselytism. In fact, He

discouraged conversion from one faith to another. He was a great advocate of

Hindu-Muslim unity and worked with might and main for the realization of

this great ideal.

The Hindus worshipped the saint in accordance with their sastraic modes,

using mantras in the worship. The saint had a deep knowledge of the Hindu

scriptures as well as of the Koran, the scripture of the Mohammedans. He

often expounded the tenets of these religions in a wonderful way to His

devotees. He often gave money to poor Mohammedan pilgrims for pilgrimage to

Mecca. The holy name of Allah was always on the lips of Sai Baba. He gave

his pictures and padukas to his Hindu devotees and asked them to worship

them. He exhorted the Mohammedans, to perform their Namaz regularly and

without fail. He deprecated strongly the idea of a man praising his own

religion and belittling the religion of another.

The saint distributed among His devotees sweetmeatj and other edibles

brought by anyone as prasad. The Rama Navami and Panja Sandal festivals were

celebrated by Baba on a grand scale with the help of His bhaktas of all

castes and creeds. In fact, His noble life was a telling example of

Hindu-Muslim unity. Even to-day Hindus and Muslims offer worship at the

Samadhi of Baba and other holy places connected with the saint without any

hitch or hatred or misunderstanding.

The saint sincerely worked for the spiritual benefit of mankind for about 30

years, healing the sores of suffering humanity by the extraordinary power of

his spiritual attainments and shuffled off his mortal coil on October 15,

1918.

But is Baba really dead ? No. From His samadhi He hears our prayers and

supplications and grants them with a generous heart. It is this generosity

of Baba that is responsible for the unqualified success of the Baba Mission.

The saint is as alive to-day with His body in His samadhi, as He was while

in flesh and blood. He inclines His ears unto our prayers to-day from His

samadhi as vigilantly as He did while He was in our midst in His physical

body.

The main principles of His teaching are these :

1. Always speak truth.

2. Give alms to the poor and needy as much as you can.

3. Do not speak ill of others.

4. Do not be jealous of the wealth and prosperity of another.

5. Always work hard. Do not be lazy or indolent.

6. Do not treat the poor with contempt.

7. Be content with what God has given you. e*-

8. Always contemplate. God and have His holy flame on your lips.

It is Sai Baba who has proclaimed in unequivocal terms from the hilltop

of His spiritual eminence, " Why do you fear when lam here? Cast all your

burdens on Me, I Will bear them." Surely, spiritual history cannot boast

of a greater or nobler declaration than the one made by the Saint of Shirdi.

This great declaration is the sheet-anchor of every devotee's hope of

attaining mukti.

>From the foregoing it is clear that sages and saints come to this World when

mankind strays from the path of rectitude and righteousness, when in

consequence sins are on the increase and when adharma rears its ugly head.

Their mission is to put down such adharma and establish the reign of dharma,

Q

Saint Sayings

A short life is preferable if devoted to the remembrance of God. A life of

one lakh years (withou devotion of God) is of no use at all.

..'Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the sunbeam.

''Truth is like light and falsehood is like darkness; Only those creatures

who are fallen and degraded can' enjoy darkness and falsehood.

If you do good and surrender it to God, good will come to you. God is the

Lord of them that do good.

H. H, SW'A.W KESAVAIAHJI'S SELECTIONS

 

(Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji)