Come Into My Heart, O Sai!

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Dear Sai Devotees, The following article appeared in the latest Souvenir of North America Shirdi Sai Temple of Atlanta, and wanted to share this with the members of . ---------------------------- Sadhguru Sai Baba utilizes us as instruments of service in His

mission. We serve in His mission at His pleasure; that means we serve only when He desires us to do so. His mission is twofold: 1) spread the word of equality and equanimity among all living beings, and 2) strengthen the relationship between the Self and the Spirit. His pleasure is to see the transformation in each of us toward His mission. He seeks us out and admits us into His school as students only when He senses that we are ready to begin a journey of transformation. He prescribes Sraddha (Faith) and Saburi (Patience) as the only qualities we need to start and stay in this journey of transformation. If we take one step toward Him, He takes ten steps toward us. The road to transformation is full of worldly attractions and illusions, but He removes all obstacles in our path of progress like the Sun piercing through the morning fog. He will keep His promise but we need to keep ours; All He asks is our commitment to stay the course with Shraddha and Saburi. But beware! Many start the journey anxiously but don’t stay the course due to various reasons. One reason for this might be a lack of sound understanding of the relationship between the Self and the Spirit. The purpose of this article is to introduce a framework in which we can

understand, examine, assess and improve the relationship between the Self and the Spirit. Ultimately, it is this understanding that determines the extent of transformation in us. The Gayathri Mantra captures Self’s relationship with the Spirit at seven stages and the purpose for each of the stages is briefly described below: Om Bhu ………………………. Survival and Existence Om Bhuvaha………………… Growth and Procreation Om Suvaha……………………..Accumulation and Prosperity Om Mahaha…………………….Courage and Achievement Om

Janaha………………………Influence and Recognition Om Tapaha………………………Meditation and Awareness Om Satyam………………………Merging with Spirit Om Tat Savitur Varenyam……………..That source of Light Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi….We meditate upon that Light Dheeyo Yonah Prachodayaath …May that Light inspire us! Stage 1: People that have a view of God where they feel their survival is at stake and need God’s assistance are relating to God at stage 1 - a clear position of duality between the Self and the Spirit. Stage 2: People - whose hunger/existence is taken care of - begin to relate to God from the perspective of having a family and creating progeny; still a position of

duality. Stage 3: People who have a stable family situation start seeking accumulation of worldly things and money, and continue to relate to God as an external force. Stage 4: People that are well-to-do begin setting larger personal goals and look for courage and achievement; they relate to God as a force who bestows courage

and facilitates achievement. Stage 5: People that are comfortable with their accomplishments in their personal life begin setting their sight on influencing others and achieving social recognition; they venture into social service projects and look to God for direction in those areas. Stage 6: People that are otherwise content

with their lives (with or without material possessions) may choose to discover the Spirit and enter the spiritual path for increased awareness of the Spirit. With sufficient sadhana, they begin to invite the Spirit into their Self. This is the first stage where the difference between the Self and the Spirit begins to blur. Stage 7: People that have done persistent sadhana (perhaps over lifetimes) enter this stage where they realize that the Self and the Spirit are One. Depending on the situations that life presents, people typically would be operating in different stages. For the most part, we are typically stuck in stages 1 through 5, and it takes a concerted effort to enter stage 6. We need to constantly make an effort to allow the divine Spirit into our hearts and voluntarily give the Spirit the power to drive us in the path of transformation. Stage 6 is really a state-of-mind where we surrender the ‘I’ and the

‘ego’ to the divine Spirit, and whole-heartedly and consciously welcome the divine Spirit into our hearts to inspire our thoughts and deeds at every moment. Just as a blade of grass can tolerate the forces of wind and rain more easily than a rigid tree, one would discover that the divine Spirit – if resident in our hearts - begins to manifest a creative response in each of us that makes us fuller and more complete human beings. As the devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba, we are fortunate to have a Guru that is most capable to guide us in our journey of transformation. All it takes is to open our hearts and invite His Spirit to become resident in our Self and

turn the ‘reins of our life’ over to Him so He can drive us to the intended destination in this lifetime and beyond. O Baba! Please come into & reside in my heart! Please go with me wherever You take me! Please get Your work done through me! Inspiration: Samardha Sadguru Sai Baba Pen: Prasad Nimmagadda -----

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