Messages from Shirdi -November 2002

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Baba Said....

"Just as the sun only gives light, which all the stars put together cannot do,

so the Sadguru alone imparts spiritual wisdom, which all the sacred books and

sermons cannot do".

"His movements and simple talks give us 'silent' advice. The virtues of

forgiveness, calmness, disinterestedness, charity, benevolence, control of mind

and body, egolessness etc are observed by the disciples, as they are being

practiced in such pure and holy company.".

"Who so ever devoutly offers to me a leaf, a flower, or fruit or water, of that

pure hearted man, I accept that pious offering".

"Eating that lovely bread I am heartily contended and I am still belching. The

dog which you saw before meals and to which you gave the piece of bread, is one

with me, so also other creatures (cats, pigs, flies, crows etc.) are one with

me. I am roaming in their forms".

Why Fear? Is Baba not near?We should not worry. We should have implicit faith in

Baba, in our Inner Pilot and our spiritual Master. We have to feel that not only

does Baba know what is best for us, but He will do what is best for us. We worry

because we do not know what is going to happen to us tomorrow, or even the next

minute. We feel that if we do not do something for ourselves, then who is going

to do it? But if we can feel that there is someone who thinks of us infinitely

more than we think of ourselves, and if we can consciously offer our

responsibility to Him, saying, "You be responsible. Eternal Father, Eternal

Mother, You be responsible for what I do and say and grow into," then our past,

our present and our future become His problem. As long as we try to be

responsible for our own life, we will be miserable. We will not be able to

properly utilize even two minutes out of every twenty-four hours we have. When

we can feel that we are Baba's conscious instruments and He is the Doer, then

we will not worry about our destiny; we will not be afraid of our destiny, for

we will know and feel that it is in the all-loving Hands of Baba, who will do

everything in us, through us and for us.Let us consciously offer our very

existence - what we have and what we are - to Baba. What we have is aspiration

to grow into the very image of Baba, into infinite peace, Light and bliss. And

what we are right now is just ignorance, the ignorance-sea. If we can offer our

aspiration-cry and our ignorance-sea to Baba, then our problem is solved. We

should not and we need not ever worry about destiny. On the strength of our

surrender, we become inseparably one with Sai's cosmic Will.

Inner PeaceNo price is too great to pay for inner peace. Peace is the harmonious

control of life. It is vibrant with life-energy. It is a power that easily

transcends all our worldly knowledge. Yet it is not separate from our earthly

existence. If we open the right avenues within, this peace can be felt here and

now.Peace is eternal. It is never too late to have peace. Time is always ripe

for that. We can make our life truly fruitful if we are not cut off from our

Source, which is the peace of eternity. The greatest misfortune that can come

to a human being is to lose his inner peace. No outer force can rob him of it.

It is his own thoughts, his own actions, that rob him of it.Peace is life.

Peace is bliss eternal. Worries mental, vital and physical do exist. But it is

up to us whether to accept them or reject them. To be sure, they are not

inevitable facts of life. Since our Almighty Father is All-Peace, our common

heritage is peace. It is a Himalayan blunder to widen the broad way of future

repentance by misusing and neglecting the golden opportunities that are

presented to us. We must resolve here and now, amidst all our daily activities,

to throw ourselves, heart and soul, into the sea of peace. He is mistaken who

thinks that peace will, on its own, enter into him near the end of his life's

journey. To hope to achieve peace without spirituality or meditation is to

expect water in the desert.

We will own peace only after we have totally stopped finding fault with others.

We have to feel the whole world as our very own. When we observe others'

mistakes, we enter into their imperfections. This does not help us in the

least. Strangely enough, the deeper we plunge, the clearer it becomes to us

that the imperfections of others are our own imperfections, but in different

bodies and minds. Whereas if we think of Baba, His compassion and His Divinity

enlarge our inner vision of Truth. We must come in the fullness of our

spiritual realization to accept humanity as one family.

What is Religion?Religion is an act of vision that guides and leads us to the

Beyond. Religion is intuitive. Religion is so near and dear to each of us, so

familiar to our soul and so intimate to our heart, that it requires no

definition. Religion is not fanaticism. Religion, in the purest form, is a

feeling of the universal oneness of Truth. A fanatic never sees the Truth in

its totality, even in his wildest imagination. A fanatic has nothing to offer

the world precisely because he has not kept his heart's door open wide, and

because he lacks the capacity to commune with his soul.Forgiveness, compassion,

tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true

religion. If you live in your oneness-heart, you will feel the essence of all

religions, which is the love of God.  Overcoming the fear of failureWe have to

know what failure is and what failure can do. Fear is bound to go when we know

that failure is not something shameful, damaging, destructive or painful. Feel

that failure is something natural. When a child starts to walk, he often

stumbles and falls down. But he does not feel that stumbling is a failure. He

thinks that it is a natural process to stand up for a moment and then fall

again.If we think of failure in that light, not as something that is against or

totally distant from reality but as something that is forming, shaping, molding

and becoming reality, then there cannot be any fear. We take failure as

something contrary to our expectation and our realization of Baba. But failure

is not contrary to our realization. Failure is something that is urging us

towards our realization. What we call failure, in Baba's Eye, is only an

experience.Always take failure as an experience. Do not take it as a finished

product or as the culmination of an experience, but rather as the process of an

experience. If we think that failure is the end of our experience, then we are

mistaken. In a long race, one may start very slowly, but then gradually he

increases his speed and eventually he reaches his goal. If he thinks that since

his start was slow, he will not be able to reach the destination, then he is

making a deplorable mistake. If there is no failure, naturally we will run the

fastest. But if there is failure, take it as an experience that is just

beginning. The end will be success. And then who can say that we have failed?

Question and Answers

Question:  Many children are seen begging outside the temples. Should we not

stop them from doing this?

Answer: These children do not beg out of any greed. It is generally a compulsion

of life. They only wish that they should get some sweet, piece of coconut or

some money. They have such innocent look on their faces. In spite of such

poverty there is such happiness reflecting on their faces. Those are greedy who

are praying/ begging for much more after making lakhs and crores in the most

sinful manner. For this they do all kind of crooked deeds. It is important that

such people should change their mentalities. If we have the capacity to educate

and look after these children we should do so. Without help they can’t be

stopped except by law.

 

Question:  We want to give pure love to Baba but, we are not familiar with its

ways, please help us in this regard. When and how a human being can become a

good devotee?

Answer: Love cannot be organized the way most of the people think. It is a

spontaneous feeling and process of heart where there is no ego. Having pure

love for Baba means completely following the path which has been told or shown

by Him through His own examples. It requires to cleanse one self, which may

take years or many lives but the effort should be on. If one is able to awaken

the divine qualities like compassion, forgiveness, human service, non-violence,

etc. within oneself then the Sadguru walk’s along him. It is evident from

reading Sai Satcharitra that those who had completely surrendered to Him were

close to Baba. External worship and rituals are only modes of cleansing the

inner self. However, any amount of worship does not qualify a Sai devotee if

his inner self is not clean.

Question:  I am a devotee of Baba, but sometimes I am unable to pray to Baba

with concentration. How do I get more devotion towards Baba?

Answer: As Baba said remember Him not only in the biggest but also in the

smallest activity you perform. Remember Him when you get out from sleep or

before entering sleep, before taking food, before using any new item, before

starting any new activity etc. There is no limitation or restriction of time,

place or situation for remembering Baba and associating Him with our memory in

every mundane activity we do. This is the easiest way of devotion. By doing so

continuously you will develop concentration and establish an inner relation

with Him.

Question:  Will Sai Baba ever give his darshan to me?

Answer: Physical darshan of a Sadguru is when he is in physical body. Later,

through deep meditation one can have his darshan internally. Pray to Shri Sai

always to bless you with His swaroop darshan. 

 

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