Sai Baba's Blessed Assurance By Dr. G. R. Vijayakumar

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Sai Baba's Blessed

Assurance

By Dr.

G. R. Vijayakumar

 

" Sai Baba -grant that I may never be

a scoffer at eternity As long as every 'Vijaya Dashami' brings the sweet rebirth of growing things. "

- Anonymous

 

All of us have two things in common - each

one of us was born, and each one of us must die. Most of us are not too

concerned with the circumstances of our birth; we do not remember it; it lies

far behind us. But the thought of dying is another matter. The knowledge that

our days on this earth will come to an end in an inescapable part of our existence

– some are mysterious and sometimes frightening.

 

I have come across Sai-devotees who are

haunted by a fear of death, which they try to conceal from other people, and

even from themselves. These people are not necessarily old or ill. Often they

are in the prime of life, with many useful years ahead of them. But sometimes,

it seems, the more they love life, the more they dread death.

 

What I usually do with such people is

admit that I, too, have moments when I flinch from the thought of dying, I

suggest that this is perfectly natural, that in my opinion Sai Baba has planted

a certain amount of this fear in all of us so that we would not be tempted to

relinquish the trials and responsibilities of this life too easily. But, I add,

lam sure Sai Baba did not intend us to be panicky about it. Finally, I try to

reassure these troubled souls by outlining the thoughts that have helped me

rise above the fear of death, or at least keep it under control.

 

Take for example, the inevitability of

dying. This seems to appall some people, but it always has struck me as a

merciful thing. Suppose there were loopholes in this universal law; suppose

that somehow there was a one percent change of avoid­ing death. Consider how

frantically we would search for that loophole, how wretched we would be not to

find it.

 

But consider how wretched we would be if

we did find it! No one would be happy trying to live forever. It is a little

like being at a wonderful film. During the performance, one hopes that it will

go on and on, but one would not really like to stay in front of the screen all

night, or until boredom sets in.

 

Another thing I tell the worried ones is

this: you maybe frightened in advance, but it is almost certain that when the

time comes you will not fear death at all. As a Doctor, I have seen hundreds of

people die and my experience is, at the end unless

they are tormented by a guilty conscience, people go peacefully and thankfully.

The truth is death has been miscast as a grim reaper. To almost

everyone, when it finally comes, it comes as a friend.

 

" That may be true, " say some of

the fearful ones. " The moment of death may be less terrifying than we

thought. But then what? Is there a life after death? Is there any proof?

 

To these I reply:

" It depends on what you mean by proof. To me the evidence is overwhelming,

whether you consult your reason or your instincts. Look at the vast universe

that surrounds specifically that there is a life beyond the grave. Not only

that, Sai Baba has proved it by His post-Samadhi activities. If you believe

that it happened, death should hold little terror for you. If you don't believe

it, you are not a completely fulfilled Sai-devotee.

 

The 'Maha-Samadhi'

message of Sai Baba is one of such hope and joy that Sai-devotees are thrilled

by it. During last year's 'Punya Thithi'

celebrations, a Sai brother whom I know very well, was at Shirdi and told me

his early morning expe­rience at the holy soil of Shirdi. It was cold; he had

not worn a sweater or a coat. He stood in the 'Q' shivering dolefully and

wishing himself back in bed. " But then " he told me, " When the

sun cleared and light poured, I forgot all about being cold. One moment

everything was gray formless: Then came torrents of light plunging down the

walls of Booty - Wada, making them blaze with colour

dissolving the blackness into purple shadows that eddied like smoke. Standing

there, I had a most indescribable feeling, a conviction that the light was

real, and that we, silent watchers of the sunrise were somehow a part of the

light........... "

 

STRANGE WORDS

Strange words..................... but

close to a profound truth.

 

Darkness is powerless before the onslaught

of light. And so it is with death. We have allowed ourselves to think of it as

a dark door, when actually it was a rainbow bridge spanning the gulf between

the two worlds.

 

That is the message of Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi. Yet there are people, even good Sai-devotees,

who accept it with their minds but really never feel it in their lives. The

message of Sai Baba " Even though I pass away, my tomb takes care of my

devotees " would never get through fully to us until we go to Shirdi and

see with our own eyes the places where Sai Baba actually walked. As we stand

before His 'Samadhi', we hear Sai Baba's words: " | AM

WITH YOU. "

 

Right in the Colony where I live, there is

an inscription - " To larger sight, the rim of shadow is the line of

light " There you have it in just 12 words. Believe me, death is only a

momen­tary rim of shadow. Beyond it, waiting for all of us who deserve it, is

the radiance of eternal life.

(Source Sri Sai padananda

Oct 1990)