Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

How are we to realise the existence of divinity, and by what

intimation are we to cognise it? Swami is pleased to refer to it in

the charming phrase, " Constant-Integrated-Awareness " . How are we to

achieve this Awareness?

 

The idea that all forms and all names belong to God is verily

Constant-Integrated Awareness. The experience of sarvan visnumayam

jagat, the world is pervaded by Vishnu, is but Constant-Integrated-

Awareness. God can be experienced in any form, at any time or place.

 

The life of Tulasidas illustrates this beautifully. He could not

recognise God even when He approached him and talked to him. One day

Tulasidas sat under a tree, grinding a piece of sandalwood on a

mortar to prepare the paste. Right then, two cowherd boys came there

and asked him, " Grandfather! Will you give us some sandal paste? "

Then, Tulasidas replied, " My children! I am preparing this for Lord

Sri Ramachandramurthi " . Two parrots, perched on a bough of that tree,

observed this, and commented, " For whose sake is all this paste? Why

doesn't he realise it? " Tulasidas heard these, words. He knew the

language of the birds. The next day, while he was preparing the

paste, the two cowherd boys turned up. This time, even without asking

him, they took some sandal paste into their palms, applied it to the

forehead, and left. Tulasidas who had noticed this was dumbfounded.

This time too he heard the birds' comments from the branch of the

tree, " Aha! What a wonder! Those for whom the sandal paste was

prepared, had themselves come, and received it! What fortune! " As he

knew the language of the birds, Tulasidas realised that the boys who

had adorned themselves with the paste were, indeed, Rama and

Lakshmana. Out of ignorance, he had at first denied them.

 

You may have heard of Vemana too. He was a thinker who belittled

worship offered to stones and idols. He used to doubt, " God, who

pervades the whole world, how can He be inside stone statues? " He

used to make fun of idol worshippers. One day, his elder brother's

daughter, whom he loved dearly, passed away. Grief-stricken, he kept

on gazing at the little girl's picture hanging on the wall. His elder

brother's wife was observing all this. One day, she threw down the

picture. It broke into pieces. This was too much for Vemana to bear.

Then, she said, " My son! My girl is no more, isn't she? Why do you

cry over a broken picture? " Vemana replied, " Mother! Though she is

gone, her picture was here, wasn't it? Looking at it has been some

consolation for me. That is why when it broke into pieces, I am

grieving ever more. " Then his elder brother's wife counselled him

admirably, " My son! It is very true that God is present everywhere.

But, the devotee delights in seeing Him and worshipping Him in an

idol as well. Just as you consoled yourself looking at the picture

even though she whom you love is no more, the devotee invokes God in

an idol, and offers it worship. " Straightaway Vemana grasped her

message, and the secret behind idol worship. In this way, the

experience of visualising the Supreme Lord in all places, times, and

creatures is truly Constant-Integrated-Awareness. This can also be

called the existence and intimation of Divinity.