Gurupurnima Message - Part 02/03

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GURU PURNIMA MESSAGE

 

Devotees are often heard to be saying that Shri Sainath Maharaj or

Baba is either angry with them or is not taking care of them as

before for reasons which they fail to understand. Such an attitude

indicates a highly personalized approach. It is a unique feature of

the Sai faith that the devotees get highly emotionally attached to

Him even though he has no more physical presence. Psychologically

they depend a lot on Shri Shirdi Sai for solace, guidance and more

importantly for getting a solution to their day to day mundane

problems. For most of the devotees He is a part of their lives. They

worship Him, they read about Him, they meditate on Him, they do

Naamjaap, they talk about Him a lot without getting tired and the

hold Lungers and even donate alms to beggars in his name. Some of the ardent

devotees even before taking any food or drink offer it to Baba mentally. Like

children they collect all sorts of photographs,

trinkets and other articles related to Baba. Such activities are a

pointer to the fact that they are ever in search of Baba in their

mind and soul and wish to establish an intense relationship with Him.

 

It has been observed that a devotee when he first enters into the

fold of Shri Sai Baba's divine and magnanimous personality gets

attracted to him in a very short time which ordinary human reasoning

can not explain. When Baba was there in Shirdi many of the devotees

used to go into a spiritual trance or sort of emotional hype at the

very look at Baba. Such examples find a depiction in Shri Sai

Satcharitra and many other books like Khaparde's diary etc. Such was

the attraction of the master that when a non believer like Balasaheb

Bhate met Baba for the first time he just decided to stay back and

settle down in Shirdi forever and later resigned from the government

service only to serve Baba for the rest of his life.

 

Most of the devotees hold Baba's relation with them as their most

prized possession. Baba before departing from his physical embodiment had

assured his devotees that he would continue to protect them from his invisible

abode. He had even said that whenever His devotees would call him earnestly he

would make his presence felt in some way or the other and also render help to

remove their difficulties. Incidents happening in the lives of most of the

devotees after Baba had taken Samadhi show that Baba continues to keep his

promise.

 

Thus Shri Sainath Maharaj continues to render love, assurance,

protection and faith to all his devotees. At times being busy

tackling their earthly problems, the devotees are not in a position

to remember Baba as much as they used to do earlier. In such a

situation, they feel an emotional vacuum in them. Lets just

understand this sense of void in the devotee when the feeling towards the

Sadguru reduces in its intensity through the example of the sun and the

sunlight. The light rays continuously emanate from the sun and the sunlight

falls on earth. When the sky is clouded the Sun's rays cannot be seen.

Similarly, Baba's love and protection towards devotees flows continuously but

some of the devotees do not

experience it when their life is engulfed by worldly clouds.

 

Sai Nath maharaj often used to tell devotees at Shirdi in no

uncertain terms that whosoever prays to him intensely and intimately

would certainly receive His grace, help and experience. Once the

teacher - pupil emotional rapport is established, the pupil is bound

to go through a series of alternative emotional experiences.

Sometimes he will feel flooded with loving emotions towards his

master and sometimes he will feel a sense of emotional void. This

bipolar emotional situation is not due to the change in the mood of

the master as perceived by devotees because a perfect master is a

perfect soul. The reason for such a feeling in the devotee lies in

the devotee himself. Hence, whenever such a situation comes the

devotee should not get bogged down under his own emotional pressures

and feel frustrated. Instead he should pray Baba to stabilize his

emotions towards Him. Every devotee should try to understand that a

perfect master has a thousand things to do for benefit of innumerable number of

devotees at the same time. Therefore to expect that the emotional impulses of

each devotee would be immediately reciprocated by the master is not the correct

approach. Such an unstable mental state of the devotee indicates a lack of faith

in the master. If the devotee is convinced that the Sadguru is always busy in

helping a large number of His devotees, at the same time, he (the devotee)

should take care to see that he does not disturb the master for frivolous

issues. The master is best left to carry on His magnificent and universal work.

This understanding on the part of the devotee will make the master comfortable.

 

Baba Said

 

" The 'Sadguru' is like a monsoon cloud. He pours down profusely i.e. scatters

widely His nectar-like teachings "

 

Baba is every where just feel him and keep on saying `Om Sai Ram' to whom so

ever you meet.

 

OM SAI SRI SAI JAI JAI SAI!!! Let us pray at the lotus feet of Bhagwan Baba who

is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all, to show mercy on us, and

increase our devotion towards him

 

Jai Sai Ram

Swamy Mahadevan

Bow to Shri Sai-Peace be to all

Baba Bless you ever!!!