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His 'tory
______________________
| Om Mani Padme Hum |
|_________ _________|
________________________| |_________________________
| |
| The Exalted One said: "And what, bhikkhus, is the |
| Aryan truth concerning the way that leads to the |
| cessation of ill? This is that Aryan eightfold |
| path, to wit: right view, right aspiration, right |
| speech, right doing, right livelihood, right |
____ | effort, right mindfulness, right rapture. | ____
| O | | | | V |
| m | | There are two extremes, monks, which he who has | | a |
| | | given up the world ought to avoid: a life given | | j |
| A |__| to pleasure and lusts, and a life given to |__| r |
| h mortifications. By avoiding these two extremes the a |
| __ Thatagatha has gained the knowledge of the middle __ |
| H | | path, which leads to wisdom, which conduces to | | G |
| u | | calm, to knowledge, to Sambodhi, to Nirvana. | | u |
| m | | | | r |
|____| | This monks is the noble truth concerning the | |_u__|
| cessation of suffering. Verily it is passionless, |
| cessation without remainder of this very craving; |
| the laying aside of, the giving up, the being free |
| from, the harbouring no longer of, this craving." |
|_______________________ ________________________|
| |
________| |________
| Padme Siddhi Hum |
|______________________|
The end of that craving is welcomed by the sincere spiritual seeker.
Craving takes so many forms; sometimes the craving is more for others
to be proven false than for one's own insight to fructify into wisdom.
That is called jealousy, and is dangerous for all aspirants, and
must be rooted from the heart.
In showing the danger of such roots, a critic voiced the fact in
several fora, and with no little scorn, how the elder brother of Sai
was critical of his younger brother's fame. That present day critic
was implying previous familial criticism in itself proved Sai to be but
a fake. I have heard such carping before, as have others, for it dates
back to the times of Jesus. Those He grew up with doubted Him, and some
even denounced Him as a madman.
While the differences between brothers may be publicized by the media,
or gossiped about in the neighborhood (or the 'Net), infrequently is
resolution given equal billing. Just as the early row between Jesus
and His family was resolved but gets no scriptural mention (while their
disputes do get mentioned) so too the early row between the Raju
brothers was resolved yet was not mentioned by the media. In both cases
the basis of the row was familial concern, not sectarian spite.
Baba announced his identity to the public when he was 14 years old.
Some doubted what he said and turned away, some looked further, some
accepted what he said. By the time Baba was twenty, he was getting
that kind of attention from people outside his village and district and
state- and while some offered praise, not all of that attention was
polite. Sai paid no heed to either praise or blame.
His older brother, a schoolteacher in a nearby town, was quite
concerned by some of the stories he was told regarding his younger
brother. He wrote to Sai about that hearsay, and later let his concern
be made public. Critics loved it, and even now mention the brother's
complaints as if in the present tense.
Perhaps the clearest insight into the appropriate attitude to take
towards criticism is to be found in Sai Baba's reply to his elder
brother. (Kasturi describes this incident in `Sathyam Shivam
Sundaram', Part II)
"Baba was now twenty years of age; his older brother,
Seshamaraju, the teacher of Telugu, could not quite grasp
the mystery of this phenomenon. He watched with
increasing consternation and genuine fraternal love the
procession of cars that came to the right bank of the
river and took his simple village-grown brother away into
the cities that glittered beyond the horizon, full of
temptations and pitfalls. A few press comments that arose
from ignorance pained him. So he wrote a letter to his
brother warning him and imparting to him the lesson he had
learned in life about society and human foibles, about
fame and its attendants.
"The reply that Sai Baba wrote to him on the 25th of May,
1947, is in my possession. It is a document that reveals
Baba in unmistakable terms. So I must allow you to have
it:
`To all who are devoted to me: `My dear one! I received the
communication that you wrote and sent; I found in the surging
floods of your devotion and affection, the undercurrents of
doubts and anxiety. Let me tell you that it is impossible to
plumb the hearts and discover the natures of jnanis, yogis,
ascetics, saints and sages and the like. People are endowed
with a variety of characteristics and mental attitudes; so
each one judges according to his own angle, talks and argues
in the light of his own nature.
`But we have to stick to our own right path, our own wisdom,
our own resolution, without getting affected by popular
appraisal. As the proverb says, it is only the fruit-laden
tree that receives the shower of stones from passers-by. The
good always provoke the bad into calumny; the bad always
provoke the good into derision. This is the nature of this
world. One must be surprised if such things do not happen.
`The people too have to be pitied, rather than condemned.
They do not know. They have no patience to judge aright.
They are too full of lust, anger and conceit to see clearly
and know fully. So they write all manner of things. If they
only knew, they would not talk or write like that. We, too,
should not attach any value to such comments and take them to
heart, as you seem to do. Truth will certainly triumph some
day; untruth can never win. Untruth might appear to
overpower truth, but its victory will fade away and truth
will establish itself.
`It is not the way of the great to swell when people offer
worship and shrink when people scoff. As a matter of fact,
no sacred text lays down rules to regulate the lives of the
great, prescribing the habits and attitudes they must adopt.
They themselves know the path they must tread; their wisdom
regulates and makes their acts holy. Self-reliance,
beneficial activity - these two are their special marks. They
may also be engaged in the promotion of the welfare of
devotees and in allotting them the fruits of their actions.
Why should you be affected by tangle and worry as long as I
am adhering to these two? After all, praise and blame of the
populace do not touch the Atma, the reality: they can touch
only the outer physical frame.
`I have a task: to foster all mankind and ensure for all of
them lives full of ananda. I have a vow: to lead all who
stray away from the straight path back again into goodness
and save them. I am attached to a "work" that I love: to
remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they
lack. I have a "reason to be proud," for I rescue all who
worship and adore me, aright. I have my definition of the
"devotion" I expect: those devoted to me have to treat joy
and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude.
`This means I will never give up those who attach themselves
to me. When I am thus engaged in my beneficial task, how can
my name be tarnished, as you apprehend? I would advise you
not to heed such absurd talk. Mahatmas do not acquire
greatness through someone calling them so; they do not become
small when someone calls them so. Only those low ones who
revel in opium and ganja but claim to be unexcelled yogis,
only those who quote scriptural texts to justify their
gourmandry and pride, only those who are dry-as-dust scholars
exulting in their casuistry and argumentative skills, who
will be moved by praise or blame.
`You must have read life-stories of saints and divine
personages; in these books you must have read of even worse
falsehoods and more heinous imputations cast against them.
This is the lot of the mahatmas everywhere, at all times.
Why then do you take these things to heart? Have you not
heard of dogs that howl at the stars? How long can they go
on? Authenticity will soon win. I will not give up my
mission, nor my determination. I know I will carry them out;
I treat honor and dishonor, the fame and blame that may be
the consequence, with equal equanimity. Internally, I am
unconcerned. I act but in the outer world; I talk and move
about for the sake of the outer world and for announcing my
coming to the people, else I have no concern even with these.
`I do not belong to any place, I am not attached to any name.
I have no "mine" or "thine." I answer, whatever the name you
use. I go, wherever I am taken. This is my very first vow. I
have not disclosed this to anyone so far. For me the world is
something afar, apart. I act and move only for the sake of
mankind. No one can comprehend my glory, whoever he is,
whatever his method of inquiry, however long his attempt.
`You can yourself see the full glory in the coming years.
Devotees must have patience and forbearance. `I am not
concerned nor am I anxious that these facts should be made
known; I have no need to write these words, I wrote them
because I felt you will be pained if I do not reply. Thus,
your Baba.'"
That was how the 20 year old Sri Sathya Sai Baba replied to his elder
brother five decades ago. After all those years, after all the many
times in which Swami's sincerity has been shown, there are still those
who relish hearsay more than first-hand investigation or direct
experience. That is the nature of things.
On October 20, 1990, amidst a sea of devotees, I was present as Swami
sang:
"Know that verily I am Sai-
Renounce all attachment, cease all attempts;
This external relationship with you is gone;
Even the mightiest of the mighty cannot catch me."
"These are the words uttered by me on that day, Monday the 20th
October, 1940. Then the families of Tammiraju, Hanumantha Rao,
Bhojaraju and others requested me not to leave the house. This
happened at Urvakonda. Whatever it is, Divine power is always
associated with human power and vice-versa. When this physical body
had to renounce certain physical relationships and attachments, it
was essential that a certain philosophy as an ideal had to be
manifested and established.
"During my stay at Urvakonda, a certain Ramaraju, then the Municipal
Chairman of Bellary, used to come to see Swami. In those days, people
used to call me only "Raju". Ramaraju made a request to Seshamaraju
(Swami's elder brother, a man often critical of any spiritual claim),
`Please allow us to have this boy with us during the holidays.
Seshamaraju, don't look upon him as a mere boy or your brother. He
is no ordinary mortal. I am very much moved and my heart has melted
by the purity and radiance of his face. There is some divine
effulgence in him. You also may come with the boy and stay with us for
some days.'"
"Ramaraju took us all to Hampi. What I am going to tell you is
neither a hyperbole nor egotism nor mere description. At Hampi all of
them went into the Virupaksha Temple. I did not want to go in with
them. But I knew that if I did not accompany them, I would be subjected
to pressure from all sides. They might even be angry with me. So I
pleaded an upset stomach. They were about fifty or sixty. Thammiraju
and others were also there. But Ramaraju had no other thought than
that of Swami. He took my hands in his, and humbly pleaded with me many
times. "Please, Raju, you must come with us." He was very much upset
and unhappy when I was firm in my refusal. Then `harathi' (ceremonial
waving of camphor flame) was being offered to Virupaksha, the Lord
inside the sanctum. But, to the amazement of all, only the figure of
this Raju was seen in the place of the idol. Seshamaraju was very
angry. He thought that I had played a trick on them. He thought
that, pretending to stay outside, I had somehow sneaked in and was
standing behind the idol. What a great mistake! What a great sin!
Taking the place of the idol at the time of harathi! But Ramaraju
firmly believed that it was Raju there and that Raju and Virupaksha
were one and the same. Seshamaraju came out at once and found me
standing under a tree. But he would not believe his own eyes. He sent
some one inside to find out whether I was there, while he was here,
outside, watching me. But to the joy of all, Raju was found here and
also there. Still they hesitated to tell me about it; still they were
not certain that it was not, after all, a trick of the mind.
"From Hampi, I was taken to Bellary. There, Ramaraju introduced Swami
to all municipal officers (In those days, I was only Raju, not Swami).
Some were openly derisive at the reverence accorded to this small
boy. Before he took me to Hampi, Ramaraju got me a pair of shorts and
a shirt. At that time, I was only twelve and also short. Even now I
am short and I was even shorter then. In those days, i.e fifty years
ago, it was a fashion among the youth to wear a pin on the shirt
collar. Today that fashion has completely disappeared. That collar pin
was a status symbol then. Ramaraju could not think of anything
suitable to give me. So he rushed off to the goldsmith and had a gold
"collar pin" made for me. With his own hands he put it on my collar
and said, `Raju, whenever you see this collar pin, think of me.'"
"A little later, all of us returned to Urvakonda by bus. The next
day, as I was going to school, the collar pin fell off some
place. Then I sang this song:
On Monday, the twentieth of October,
Back from Hampi, going to school
Baba lost his collar pin;
And a change came over me that day;
The collar pin was lost only to bring about that change.
Just like that collar pin, worldly bonds
left me and `darshan' I had of Hampi;
'Maya' (delusion) left me and the time came
for leaving the house.
"This attachment for worldly things is Maya. The day when we get
rid of this attachment, we free ourselves from Maya.
"The same day I left the house and went and sat on a large boulder in
the compound of Anjaniah's house. He was an excise inspector. He used
to experience an inexplicable and indescribable spiritual feeling for
Swami. His house was on the way to my school. He and his wife used to
wait for me at the door of their house with some eatable or coffee or
some other thing. Feeling that the children would be an embarrassment,
they would tell them to go inside. When I slowly approached the door,
they would prostrate themselves before me. I would remonstrate them by
saying, `Sir, You are older than me. You should not do such
things.' Their reply was, `Raju, we are old in body. But in wisdom we
are only children. You are Lord Krishna incarnate.' At the same
time, they were afraid of being ridiculed. So they would call me to
them and tell me all this when we were alone.
"That day, the twentieth of October, 1940, was a Monday. On that
day, I did not go anywhere, not even to school. In those days, it
was my duty to render the morning prayer in the school. There was
a small dias with steps. The prayer was,
"Aharaha thava aahwaana prachaaritha
sunithava udaaravaani
Hindu Boudha Sikha Jaina Paarasika
Musalmaanan Kristhaani."
"Even in those days, this unity of religions was given importance.
Sometimes even the teachers were a little irritated that a mere
boy should venture to teach unity of religions. On that day, my
absence caused a lot of consternation in the school. Everyone was
enquiring about Raju and asking why he was absent. No student
attended prayer that day. Everyone came running to Anjaniah's
house. I just sat there on the rock, without talking to anybody.
Everyone was speculating on the cause of this strange occurrence.
Perhaps there had been some change in the boy, perhaps he has
suffered a mental aberration after his return from Hampi, or
something had happened at home. Thus went on the guess work.
"I suggested that they take my photograph if they wanted to know
who I was. Somebody did. In that photograph, just in front of me
there was a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba. In those days, no one had
heard of Shirdi Sai. One among the gathering was Uravakanda
Anjaniah, who is today the District Chairman of Sri Sathya Sai
Organizations. He also had that photo. I told them to start
school work after the usual prayer.
"Meanwhile, believing that something had happened to me, Seshamaraju
sent a telegram to Puttaparthi. Everyone came posthaste to Urvakonda
from Puttaparthi. They did want me to stay there even for a day more.
In those days there was no bus service to Puttaparthi, not even to
Bukkapatnam. Buses ran only up to Penukonda. From Penukonda one had
to travel by bullock-cart. Such were the conditions in those days.
All the boys in the school wanted to come with me to Puttaparthi. In
this context I must mention a very tragic event. In the school, three
boys used to occupy one desk. Two boys always sat with me. One was the
son of the sheristadar. Another was the son of a revenue inspector.
They were both from fairly rich families. I used to sit in between
them. Because of that daily "darshan, sparsan and sambhashan" (sight,
touch and talk) a great transformation came over the boys. The bond
between Raju and these boys became stronger day by day. From the day of
my leaving the school, the two boys, as though demented, went on
repeating my name, `Raju, Raju, Raju.' When they saw me stepping into
the bus, their anguish was so great that one of them, the sheristadar's
son, jumped into a well and drowned himself. The other boy gave up all
food and drink and went on repeating my name, "Raju! Raju! Raju!" Lack
of food and water weakened him so much that his body as if paralyzed.
Such a state is the spiritual state of the highest order. But
people believe that it is a kind of madness and is nothing but a total
disregard of the external world of delusion. After the tragic incident
of those two boys, the class room was locked up and later that desk was
named `Sri Sathya Sai desk.'"
"The Headmaster of the school then was Lakshmipathi. Whenever I went
to school, he used to take me to his office, close the door, make me
sit in his chair and massage my feet with all reverence and devotion.
Such devotion is nothing but the culmination of good deeds and
thoughts of one's previous births. I used to plead with him innocently
that he should not do such things. His only reply was, "You do not
understand these things. There is some great power in you." Thus,
many such events took place in Urvakonda in those days. That twentieth
day of October was a day of total transformation.
"There was a change in the hearts of the students of the school also.
Their love and affection for me went on increasing steadily. I shall
mention another incident as an illustration. The day after the
twentieth a new boy came to the dias for prayer. Instead of rendering
the prayer, he suddenly burst into tears. Seeing the boy weeping, the
others also began weeping. Then Lakshmipathi announced, `No prayer
today. This weeping for him is itself a prayer. Let us go to our
classes.' The room was locked up so as not to cause any more distress
to students and teachers, and it has now become a great attraction
and a show piece.
"Thus, men and women were much more innocent in those days and those
young students had pure hearts. They never made irrelevant comments or
asked silly or impertinent questions. Nor did they say that they
would start observations or experiments. The present day students
have more intelligence but fewer good qualities. Today, Andhra
Pradesh is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of that day, the 20th
October, 1940. These celebrations are a way of keeping the memory of
that day fresh in the mind."
"Embodiments of Love! You should not look upon all this with pride.
Rather you should believe that this is a manifestation of the power
of truth. During these fifty years, Prasanthi Nilayam has witnessed
many changes and achieved much. All this is not possible even in five
hundred years. There have been great avathars in the past. But there
were never such achievements in such a short span of fifty years. All
these things have been done single-handedly. A large University has
been started. There is a planetarium. Even an airport has been
constructed in this small and remote village. Today Prasanthi Nilayam
has extended to every nook and corner of the world. The whole world
is in Prasanthi Nilayam. People from all corners of the world are
coming here and Prasanthi Nilayam is now a mini-world. You will
understand this more fully on November 23rd. People do not come in
such large numbers even on invitation. In fact no invitation has been
extended. On the other hand, I have been telling people not to come.
But as you know, bees come where there are flowers. They come because
of honey. They do not go to plastic flowers. Such an attraction as
this is possible only in the case of Divinity. The fragrance of
divinity is spreading all through the world. Argentina is a far off
country. Today Bhajans are going on in every house in Argentina. In
Miami, the military officers are participating in Bhajans. You might
have read in the newspapers that six months ago those officers
took a vow to replace the present government with the Sathya Sai
government. The authorities thought that officers had gone mad and sent
them to a mental asylum. The officers converted the doctors and the
nurses and even the patients into devotees. Such transformations are
not possible through mere words. They come about through a change of
heart alone.
"Embodiments of Love! You have conducted the Jyothi Celebrations.
Such fervor and devotion do not come from outside. They spring
from inside. So, try to purify that internal Jyothi rather than
think of the external Jyothi. Let it shine more brilliantly. All
the Sathya Sai Organizations should transform themselves into
vehicles of love. Personal jealousies and rivalries should be
driven out. Morality alone is the true nationality. Love alone
is the true religion. We must firmly believe in this:
"Morality is the true foundation of a nation's honour.
Without morality, a nation disintegrates.
A real nation is that which is rooted in morality.
"So, if you are asked, 'What is your nation?', your reply should be,
`Morality is my nation.' If you are asked, `What is your religion?'
your answer should be, `Love is my religion.' We should cultivate
only such noble thoughts and thereby develop a deep devotion to God.
Such devotion alone can save the world. Neither governments, nor
tanks nor bombs can protect this world. Therefore, always keep in the
mind the security and welfare of our nation; keep in mind the
welfare of the entire universe; Cultivate deep devotion to God and
participate in Bhajan and Nagara Sankirthan. My blessings to you
all."
Swami said those words in the open air as Bon sat to his right. Looking
over the vast assembly I recalled how as a child Swami had told his
neighbors of a day when people from all over the world would flock to
Puttaparthi and he would be only an orange speck on the horizon. They
had just laughed at this pronouncement from the small child, even as
now some laugh when again he says what is to come. That is the way of
the world, even as millions come to him and are convinced he is exactly
who he says he is, there will be those who prefer to cherish their
doubts, and so do not come. To all, both critic and constant friend,
may the peace that passes all understanding come.
Over many years of watching and questioning and doubting, I have
figured out that sometimes Sai speaks the literal truth, while sometime
he plays with double entendres, and other times he says things as facts
in the present which are for now only prophecy, things which have not
yet happened. I have seen several such events come to pass in the 20
years I have known him, and so listen attentively to all he says.
Discerning when to take his words literally and when figuratively (or
propheticly) is a challenge, but a pleasant one. Sorta like seeing a a
crow become a white dove, and wondering if the mind is playing tricks
or if that really happened, and how it came to happen. Maybe when
Swami said there were bhajans in every house in Argentina, he was
foretelling the future? or maybe he was just playing? or using
dramatics as a story telling technique? Time will tell. For now, when
I listen to him I take what I understand, apply it to my sadhana, and
put the rest into a safety deposit box.
However, I am careful what goes into that safety box. Doubt which
arises without factual foundation is sorted from that treasure and left
at night at the curb. Why? Why because upon awakening, one finds all
properly deposited trash has been removed.
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