Sai Inspires - 4th December 2005 from Prashanti Nilayam

[Guest guest]

Forwarding the message received from "Heart2Heart" RadioSai e-Journal Team, Prasanthi Nilayam.

 

Sairam

 

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Dear Reader,

 

Loving Sairam from the Heart2Heart Team.

 

Scroll down to read our Weekend Special on "DID YOU DO AS YOU SAID"

 

Did you read the new issue of Heart2Heart? Go here to read it now.

 

How should your service be, even if it is modest? Swami tells you today.

 

 

Sai Inspires - 4th December 2005

 

Help rendered however small, if it comes from the deeper urges of service

welling in the heart, is as good as offering one's life itself. Half-hearted

and hesitating help, however great is deplorable.

- Rama Katha Rasa Vahini, P. 54.

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DID YOU DO AS YOU SAID

Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam. One of the wonderful things

about Swami is that He not only makes Spirituality quite simple but also very

relevant to daily life. Not many realise that to become spiritual, we do not

have to mull over complicated texts and commentaries, wondering what they are

all about. All that stuff is, as Swami often says, bookish knowledge. As Swami

often reminds us, what really matters in life is PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE and not

Bookish Knowledge. Indeed, it is by way of stressing this that decades ago,

Swami used to narrate little stories or parables, now better known as CHINNA

KATHAS [shortStories].

 

One of the short stories, a famous one really, is entitled: DID YOU DO AS YOU

SAID YOU WOULD? This is an oft-quoted story, and any number of dramas have been

staged, based on it. Everyone applauds loudly when the story is narrated or

enacted; and yet, in day-to-day life, how many people really bother about the

message contained in that wonderful and all-important tale? People frequently

make promises only to forget them, quite easily we might add. We are not

talking here of big promises but small ones, that is to say promises related to

seemingly small things. Somehow, people seem to forget that a promise is a

promise, even though the thing promised might be a minor matter.

 

Here is a common experience of ours. Many devotees drop into the Studio during

their pilgrimage to Prashanti Nilayam, and flood us with compliments that we

really do not deserve. For our part, we try to find out from these people how

we could improve our services. When this love feast is over and the visitors

prepare to leave, they invariably ask us: “How can we be of help you?” or “What

can we do for you?” Our standard answer is: “All we need is your good wishes. If

you can, please tell people who do not know about Radio Sai.” Most agree to do

so and there the matter ends. However, some insist that they must do something

more for us, and so, just to make them happy we say, “Maybe you can share with

us your collection of vintage photos,” or something like that. The visitors

promise that they would do it the moment they return; we then shake hands and

say goodbye.

 

Time passes, and nothing is heard from the other side about the promise. We are

not bothered because we made the request just in order to please the other

party. One fine day, the person who made the promise returns to Prashanti

Nilayam and runs into one of us in the Mandir. The person becomes profusely

apologetic and says, “You know, I got so busy when I returned. There were so

many things to do,” and so forth. We smile and reply, “We understand; things

are so hectic out there.”

 

This sort of thing happens regularly. We are not complaining but our point is

simply this: why thrust a promise when one is not sure about keeping it? It

once used to be said that a gentleman’s word was his bond – not any longer it

seems. We describe our experience mainly by way of drawing attention to the

message Swami’s little tale has.

 

The funny thing is that many people forget even the promise they make to Swami.

Many years ago when Swami was in Brindavan, He once sent some Vibhuti Prasaadam

through a devotee travelling from Brindavan to Prashanti Nilayam. Swami told

this devotee, “Listen, so and so in the Ashram is not well and has sent word

praying for Prasaadam. Since you are going there, take these packets and make

sure that you give these to the person concerned, the moment you reach there.”

The devotee promised to do exactly as Bhagavan wanted him to do, and left for

Prashanti Nilayam.

 

What happened when he reached here? He had many things to do and completely

forgot to deliver the Prasaadam. When he returned to Brindavan, the first thing

that Swami asked him was, “Did you deliver the Prasaadam?” The man got a shock

and sheepishly confessed, “No Swami, I forgot. I am sorry!”

 

That is invariably the response of all such people who forget their promise – “I

am sorry, I forgot!” Swami says that people forget when they attach low value to

the words they speak. Swami points out that the life breath is God, and breath

is important for speech. Thus, the spoken word is verily Divine and in fact the

Bible declares that the Word is God. Considering that the faculty of speech is

something not available to any other living species, we must learn to respect

this faculty as a supremely valuable gift of God, and attach the greatest

importance to it. If we do, we would not only be careful about what we say but

also give respect to the promises we make. There is no such thing as a minor

promise or a major promise. A word given is a word given, and it must be

respected because it is Divine. By the way, since word is Divine, don’t you

think we must avoid at all costs words spoken in anger and hatred, for example?

Hope you agree with our views! May be you don’t but we do not mind. Whatever

your views are, we would very much like to know what they are. Do take a minute

off to write us, won’t you?

 

In conclusion, we would like to thank all those who are responding most warmly

to this weekly feature of ours. we really appreciate the opportunity given to

us to share a few moments with you during the weekend, and are grateful for the

same.

Jai Sai Ram.

 

 

With Love and Regards,

"Heart2Heart"

RadioSai e-Journal Team,

In Sai Service.

 

 

To see the complete schedule of today's RadioSai programmes,

Visit us at www.radiosai.org to know more about RadioSai and our e-Journal "Heart 2 Heart".

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[Guest guest]

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Below is the link if you haven't read the weekend special

of Sai Inspires 4th Dec. - DID YOU DO AS YOU SAID ***Moderator***

Sai Inspire

- Weekend Special -

Did you do as you said

"The funny thing is that many people forget even the promise they make to Swami.

Many years ago when Swami was in Brindavan, He once sent some Vibhuti Prasaadam

through a devotee travelling from Brindavan to Prashanti Nilayam. Swami told

this devotee, “Listen, so and so in the Ashram is not well and has sent word

praying for Prasaadam. Since you are going there, take these packets and make

sure that you give these to the person concerned, the moment you reach there.”

The devotee promised to do exactly as Bhagavan wanted him to do, and left for

Prashanti Nilayam...... "

read more