Are we the chosen ones?

April 22, 2008

ARE WE THE CHOSEN ONES?Sai Ram dear brothers and sisters! I really liked this and am therefore sharing with you all.

Once Swami was sitting with the students around Him. Suddenly He asked a strange question. " I am going to give Sai Gita(Swami's pet elephant) to you. Tell me who wants her? Who will take her? "

The boys were taken aback. Everyone wanted to say 'Yes' when Swami asked them something, but this... They thought, " How will I take her home? " , " How do I feed an elephant? " , and so on. Suddenly one of them said, " Swami, I am ready to take Sai Gita " .

Swami, in His immense Love, waved His hand and materialised a small silver elephant and gave it to the boy. I am sure you can imagine the plight of the other students. Would not each of them have regretted not accepting Swami's offer? Regretted that they let their heads think and find obstacles instead of letting their hearts decide?

This beautiful leela was enacted by Swami, for each one of us. It echoes to the entire Sai fold, " Grab every chance Swami gives you! Else, you might regret it later. " But what exactly is this chance? It is every opportunity to get closer to our Lord, every opportunity to make Him happy. Everyday, every moment, we are surrounded by opportunities to help others, to put a smile on a sad face, to do some noble deed. But we hardly realize that they are unique chances for Sai Seva, to make our dear Lord happy, to get one step ahead in our journey towards Him(which is in fact the journey to our true self).

Be ready to realize and accept every opportunity for Seva, to participate in a service activity of the nearby Sai centre, take time out of your busy schedule to stop and help out a collegue at the workplace, spare a few moments so that someone in misery can speak their heart out and confide in you. It is said that man was born with two ears and one mouth so that he talks less and listens more!

If at all we do realize this fact, and decide to do a noble deed, what follows immediately is a train of thoughts, each one finding a new reason as to why it should not be done. The brain is at work then, and not the heart. We are all full of limitations, full of incapacities. Put the heart to work and we realize " After all, who am I doing it for? Doesn't the Loving mother know my limitations? " Yes. Swami knows what we are capable of doing. He knew very well that none of the students are able to take Sai Gita home and feed her. But when we are ready, He will create a Sai Gita that fits into our hands.

So, dear brothers and sisters, the next time you come across an opportunity for Sai Seva, dont think twice. Grab it and leave the rest to the all compassionate Lord of the Universe! Remember, we are THE CHOSEN ONES, The direct messengers of the Avatar! If we dont make a difference in the world, who will???

Source:

saibabanews/message/12223

April 22, 2008

Dear Sai brother pranam to you in the Lotus of Swami Your article is excellent and it cannot be left without further commenting. Yes, we are the chosen ones that we have the Divine Father, a chance to actually see him, have his darshan and joy of being with him. Yes we are the chosen ones that HE has blessed us with his Devotion, Teachings, love, blessings and watches over us day and night. HE guards us day and night and plans every minute of our life. HE tells us what to do and what not to do. I would like to share my views and experience with you to prove that ‘Yes we are the chose ones’. I was happily settled with my family in the UK with well paid job and all the luxury around me. But what is the point of having all the luxury when you cannot share it with the poor and share their problems? However, I used to grieve day and night that ‘Oh dear Lord, what is the meaning of this life when I don’t even get any time to sit with you and pray. What is the point of having such life where we cannot even do any Narayan Seva? As you know that one cannot find many Narayana’s in Western country and all the charity work is controlled by the law. For example, when you want to do any Narayan Seva, you have to establish your own charity with lots of do’s and don’ts or join charity other organizations and follow their procedure. My husband and I used to sit in front of Swami every Sunday which was our day off and cry and beg that please Lord give us chance to do your bhakti, give us chance to serve you by doing the community service serving the needy. Please dear Baba take us somewhere, where we don’t have all these luxury and the commercial life. Take us somewhere in third world counties, where we can see the reality of life and feel other people’s pain and serve them to come yet more closer to you Dear Baba. In the UK every one is rich compare to the people of the third world country. In UK all the needy get all the financial help and support from the government and also have hundreds of supermarkets

full of food whereas in the other part of the world, people hardly get one meal a day. Swami did listen to our prayer and weaved such a huge plan for us and moved us to the third world country. He also gave us a memorable lesson of life to mould us into perfect humans. We had our ups and downs and some times we were also driven to such severe extent to test our faith. But we did not despair and both in thick and thin, we completely surrendered ourselves unto HIM and stayed with HIM. With very little funds my husband and I started our Narayan Seva once a month. We had no income but we did not despair and sold our belonging to do Narayan Seva every month. We felt very happy and very close to Swami and as all the time we felt that HE was with us guarding and teaching us how to serve the needy. In many occasions HE came

to receive his food parcel to test our attitudes towards the poor. Many times HE approached us disguised into a very dirty and smelly old man and wanted to hug us to show his love. We were blessed with Seva after grieving for so long; we loved all the poor and sick with our whole heart. Every time this happened, we caught HIM and identified HIM and gave him a huge hug and lot of love. The Divine hug always made us bust into tears, float in the air and in total bliss. The divine smile on HIS face always revealed his identity and we always caught him. After four years we have established our own project known as Sai Baba Community Service Project. Many devotees from different faiths have joined us and we are able to serve the needy five times a month. We serve the Narayans from many different villages, hospitals,

schools and we work with Hospice Team and serve the patients who are in their final stages of life and also help their families with funerals, emotional and spiritual help. We also go to visit elderly and sick in their homes and give them physical and emotional support, hospital admissions and any Seva that is needed. Every month Swami finds the funds and also tells us what to buy and how to make the food parcels and what to put in the food parcels. Lord has allowed us to sing and dance with the Naryanas, and to share their pain and to help them to live comfortable lives. HE has allowed us to sing his glory. When we go to do Narayan Seva in the villages, all the village people sing Sai Baba's Glory in their native languages … After receiving their food parcels they go home singing… Sai Baba is a friend of poor… they

chant Sai Baba… Sai Baba and the whole village become alive and happy which is absolutely divine experience. Yes we are the wealthiest and the chosen people who are on top of this world who has got chance to live with Lord, working for Lord and are spoiled so much with the love and all the happiness of life. Sai Ram Shakuntla Vishani Anand Krishnan <anand_kpsg wrote: ARE WE THE CHOSEN ONES?Sai Ram dear brothers and sisters! I really liked this and am therefore sharing with you all. Once Swami was sitting with the students around Him. Suddenly He asked a strange question. "I am going to give Sai

Gita(Swami's pet elephant) to you. Tell me who wants her? Who will take her?" The boys were taken aback. Everyone wanted to say 'Yes' when Swami asked them something, but this... They thought,"How will I take her home?", "How do I feed an elephant?", and so on. Suddenly one of them said, "Swami, I am ready to take Sai Gita". Swami, in His immense Love, waved His hand and materialised a small silver elephant and gave it to the boy. I am sure you can imagine the plight of the other students. Would not each of them have regretted not accepting Swami's offer? Regretted that they let their heads think and find obstacles instead of letting their hearts decide? This beautiful leela was enacted by Swami, for each one of us. It echoes to the entire Sai fold, "Grab every chance Swami gives you! Else, you might regret it later." But what exactly is this chance? It

is every opportunity to get closer to our Lord, every opportunity to make Him happy. Everyday, every moment, we are surrounded by opportunities to help others, to put a smile on a sad face, to do some noble deed. But we hardly realize that they are unique chances for Sai Seva, to make our dear Lord happy, to get one step ahead in our journey towards Him(which is in fact the journey to our true self). Be ready to realize and accept every opportunity for Seva, to participate in a service activity of the nearby Sai centre, take time out of your busy schedule to stop and help out a collegue at the workplace, spare a few moments so that someone in misery can speak their heart out and confide in you. It is said that man was born with two ears and one mouth so that he talks less and listens more! If at all we do realize this fact, and decide to do a noble deed, what follows immediately is a train of thoughts, each one finding a new reason as to why

it should not be done. The brain is at work then, and not the heart. We are all full of limitations, full of incapacities. Put the heart to work and we realize "After all, who am I doing it for? Doesn't the Loving mother know my limitations?" Yes. Swami knows what we are capable of doing. He knew very well that none of the students are able to take Sai Gita home and feed her. But when we are ready, He will create a Sai Gita that fits into our hands. So, dear brothers and sisters, the next time you come across an opportunity for Sai Seva, dont think twice. Grab it and leave the rest to the all compassionate Lord of the Universe! Remember, we are THE CHOSEN ONES, The direct messengers of the Avatar! If we dont make a difference in the world, who will??? Source:

saibabanews/message/12223 Shakuntla Vishani B.A. (Hons), PGCE Sai Baba Community Service Project Mobile: +255 784 230 057 Email: shakuntlavishani