WYC - The Story of Cowboy and Beethoven's 9th Symphony

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The Ultimate Experience of Sri Sathya Sai WYC 2007

 

Prelude-1: The Story of Cowboy and Beethoven's 9th Symphony

 

Two days before I left for India to attend WYC, I heard The Fifth Discourse on BhagavadGita, Swami delivered on 7th Aug 1984. This was the Discourse whose contents Bhagavan was going to demonstrate to me during my WYC trip. I am giving below a translated excerpt of the same. Friends, if you wish to travel with me through my WYC experience, I would request you to read each word of the following Discourse attentively, for this is what exactly He showed me with various examples, at Prasanthi:

 

Start of the Excerpt:

 

Jnaathum Drashtum cha thathwena Praveshtum cha paramthapa

 

This sentence clearly depicts the sequential stages in the journey of a spiritual aspirant on his path towards his highest goal. It describes the steps to be followed by those who seek liberation by Bhakti Yoga (The practice of devotion).

 

'Jnaathum' refers to knowing and believing in the existence of God. This faith comes either by listening to Guru or any other noble souls, or by perusing sacred texts. However, the aspirant should not be satisfied merely by knowing that God exists. It is just the primary stage. Gradually, the desire to see God should arise in the aspirant. And mere pining is not enough. The wish to see God must persist in the mind all the time. Whatever strong feelings of love and longing are established inside the heart, one must try to experience them externally too.

 

 

Here is an example of such an aspirant:

 

Once upon a time, there was a cowboy. Though he was very poor, he had immense love for God. In the same village, a priest used to preach the path of devotion to the villagers every evening. One day, while the cowboy was present among his audience, the priest taught them that if one offers food (Naivedyam) to Lord Vishnu with true devotion, the Lord would come and partake of it. He also taught that God's Grace can be won by singing His glory. These words of the priest touched the heart of the cowboy deeply.

 

In the afternoon of the next day, the cowboy offered the porridge he brought with him for lunch, to Lord Vishnu and started singing. But he saw no response from God. " How can I eat the food that has not been accepted by God? " , the cowboy thought and refrained from eating the porridge. This episode repeated everyday for as long as a week, and the cowboy turned very weak on account of not having food. He underwent extreme anguish thinking that His song could not please the Lord. He went on practicing, hoping to win God's heart with his song.

 

On the noon of the seventh day, he reached the forest, totally weak. He felt extremely hungry but was not prepared to touch the food before the Lord accepted it. He started singing again. He sang and sang and finally, the moment he achieved perfect harmony between Raga (scale), Tala (rhythm), Bhava (feeling), and Sruthi (pitch), the Lord descended before him!

 

The Lord thus gave him Darshan and disappeared again. The cowboy returned to his home, but started pondering continuously as to how he could become one with the Lord.

 

As depicted by this story of the cowboy, an aspirant should not feel complacent by simply having faith in God. He should pine for the Lord's Darshan. He should fix his mind on a particular form of God and whatever he does, whatever he sees, whatever he hears and thinks, he should perceive only that Form and become one with it. Thus the Form which is initially an imagination gradually turns into a strong feeling. This leads one to Saakshaatkaara - beholding God and experiencing Him in reality. Not just Darshan, the devotee might even get an opportunity to converse Face-to-face with the Lord.

 

After having Darshan of God and talking to Him, the aspirant will be satisfied to a certain extent. But a true aspirant will not rest even at this stage. He desires to attain God. He strives continuously to become one with God and finally achieves his goal. This attainment of unity with God is the supreme objective of human life. Only when man returns to his source which is God, he can be at peace.

 

End of the Excerpt

 

This Discourse showed to me the three stages a devotee passes through -

1) Jnaathum (knowledge of the existence of God)

2) Drashtum (Seeing God) and

3) Praveshtum (Becoming One with God).

 

The satisfaction that a devotee gets after each of the first two stages is only temporary. The pain returns within no time. And this pining ends forever ONLY in the final stage of Union.

 

I somehow felt that these words were for me and that the Lord was preparing me for an intense practical experience in my WYC trip. And He confirmed my thoughts in a sweet musical manner, when I happened to hear the 2nd Movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, after the Discourse. I will try to describe here, how I perceived the "

Stages in the journey of a spiritual aspirant " in the Maestro's Symphony. (how devotees pine for Baba at Prasanthi Nilayam).

 

The 2nd movement of 9th Symphony starts with violins being played at a very fast tempo. For me, this represents the anguish of the aspirant with a question is his heart " Does God exist? Or is this universe simply a random play?

" . Gradually the tension in the music increases and it goes violent. It means the aspirant's inquiry became deeper. And then surprisingly, you see the music turning triumphant and joyful! There the aspirant attained the knowledge of the existence of God. He won over the skeptical tendencies of his mind and established himself firmly in the faith of God! If this devotee were me, I would say, he found God in PUTTAPARTHI.

 

 

And now watch the magic in the music. The joyful sound suddenly turns fiery again! And tension builds up at a much faster rate now. This shows exactly what Swami explained - " The agony of the aspirant starts again - now he wishes to 'see' God! " . The music goes more and more stormy thus showing how much the devotee is craving for the vision of Swami. After a lot of strong emotions, the music returns again to a glorious, triumphant mood! The devotee is indeed blessed with the Darshan of his Beloved! Happy and blissful ... but how long?

 

Watch the music again now - it AGAIN slips into tension. So much of longing is depicted. The devotee is haunted by the memories of the moments he spent in the presence of Baba. He desires to see Baba again, again and again. He longs to talk to Him again and again. Now, you see in the music, a series of alternating violent and joyful parts. This obviously shows how the devotee enjoys Baba's proximity for sometime and then loses it for sometime. He gains it again and loses it again. Thus he keeps alternating between joy and despair, bliss and turmoil. Each time, the pining is more and more deeper, the pain more and more painful.

 

At the end you see, the violins roaring in greatest tension ever, thus showing how the devotee can no longer bear the separation from God. Only the union with His Lord can bring solace to his soul now! And here the music shows the first symptoms of the tune which is universally popular. It is known as "

The Ode to Joy " , one of the greatest and amazingly sweet pieces composed by Beethoven; an immortal melody. For me, it represents pure and unsullied Love, which is closest to Union with God.

 

 

The third movement which follows later, is slow, tranquil and contains beautiful strains of music which are preparatory for the forthcoming " Ode to Joy " . Thus the aspirant now possesses great peace of mind and innate bliss, showing clear tendencies of his forthcoming union with the Lord.

 

And in the 4th movement ....... the double bass (a string instrument which plays at very low pitches) finally plays the tune of " Ode To Joy " without any other harmonies. Just one melody - plain and straightforward. Pure and delightful. That's the beginning of the ultimate Union! It's there. It is repeated a few times and then played most emphatically for one last time. The journey of the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) culminated in the Union with his most Beloved - Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He enjoyed and ended his joy in the Ode to Joy.