OUR BEST FRIEND SRI SATHYA SAI
Youth in India and across the world are getting carried away by certain influences which are not true and real to their own cultural heritage. Values of the yesteryears which have been so closely safeguarded from generations are getting shattered with the new age technology. Youngsters are getting entangled in wrong actions. India, known for its rich and ancient spiritual heritage, is also one of the countries facing this challenge despite its rich ancient cultural heritage!
Walk Towards God... It is at this point that our Divine Lord Sai has provided succour to all of us with His Upadesha – (Divine words) for over 85 years and the Hyderabad Youth Group in particular has been one of those large groups in the world which has had the unique and very great fortune of being under His guidance right from the early 1980’s. In the following few paragraphs, I shall be sharing a few of such divine thoughts for the welfare of youth across the world.
I am blessed to share the care and love our Divine Mother Sai showered, especially on Hyderabad Youth group. During one of the group interviews, one of the boys asked the Lord, with a lot of concern, “Swami, we are all in delusion (Maya). How do we come out of this delusion”? Swami, the all-knowing Lord smiled! With a surprised look, He asked, “Where? Where is Maya”? He continued, “There is no Maya! For example; let us consider that you are walking in the opposite direction of the sun, you see a shadow in front of you. Right? Consider yourself walking towards the sun, the shadow is behind you and you don’t see the shadow. Correct”? We all nodded in agreement. “In a similar manner, Maya is seen when you walk towards worldly things. Instead, walk towards godly things. Dear boys, walk towards God… then Maya will be left behind you like the shadow you see. Understand?” This is a great lesson from the Almighty Lord to make us understand as to how we can stay away from Maya (delusion) and lead a life of values and Seva and get nearer to God.
On an another occasion, as we were all seated at the Divine Feet of our Mother Sai in that small, beautiful most-sought-after room in Prasanthi Mandir - the interview room, Swami said, with a lot of love, “My dear children, from today, all of you need to develop love in your hearts”. With a twinkle in His eyes and a bewitching mischievous smile, Swami continued, “This love, I am talking about is not that love which you have, think all the time and see in the cinemas. That is mad love! All the love that is shown in the cinemas is contraction love! What I am speaking about is expansion love”. Immediately, one of the boys, with audacity, asked the Lord, “Swami, what is the difference between the two”? Swami, in all His love, explained in this manner. “When you talk of something as ‘mine’, it is selfish. The love that comes with selfishness is called contraction love. This love does not expand and is limited and has a boundary. When we talk of ‘thine’ with the feeling that all that exists is of the Almighty, the love that emanates from such a divine feeling is expansion love which has no limitation and no boundary!” I am sure that you all now understand what Bhagawan was trying to hint to all of us. The love that He gives has no limitations, no boundaries, beyond caste, creed, region, religion and colour… Pure Love! Does it not remind us about a Bhajan that Swami so melodiously sings… “Love is My form… Truth is My breath… Bliss is My food…” These thoughts give absolute clarity to each one of us to expand our love in His Mission? Come, let’s do our bit in expanding this phenomenon of love across boundaries. Make God the Resident of your Heart
Swami was once narrating to us the story of Mira Bai, a great devotee of Sri Krishna. He mentioned that all His devotees aspire to get close to Him in terms of physical proximity. “All of you desire to be very close to Me in physical terms – you feel that a few centimetres away is also a great distance! Right?” He asked. We all of us nodded our heads. He went on to say, with that divine enchanting smile on His face, “Frankly, to tell you the truth, I do not know what physical distance means! I am beyond physical distance! God is beyond physical distances. One should learn to pray to the God within their own hearts”. Swami further explained, “Let Me tell you, My dear children, God is not in a temple outside. Your body is His temple. He resides in your heart”. He added, “When the Rana of Chittor (Rajasthan) did not allow Mira to enter the temple, she immediately realised this truth and practised this form of devotion. She declared for her own self that her heart is a temple where Lord Krishna resides, and it is at this point of time that she rendered the famous and popular Bhajan”: Chalo Re Man Ganga Yamuna Teer, Ganga Yamuna Nirmal Pani Sheetal Hota Sarir (Oh mind! Go to the banks of the Ganga and Yamuna; the water of Ganga and Yamuna is pure; it will make the body cool and serene). The Lord then sang the entire Bhajan for all of us… the Divine Lord in Divine ecstasy! We were so fortunate! Things did not stop at that point. Lord Sathya Sai Krishna, seated in front of us, continued to explain with gestures the meaning of the Bhajan. He explained that Ganga Yamuna here mean the subtle channels in the spine, Ida and Pingala, and Teer denotes the point where they meet in the centre of eyebrows; the point of concentration where one can feel the presence of God! When man focuses at this point of concentration, the cool breeze of bliss and joy will pervade within. Brothers and sisters, isn’t this explanation amazing? Let us all make our hearts the residence of our Lord and derive the bliss and joy of the grace of the Almighty… more so when we do not see the Lord in His physical form in Prasanthi Nilayam.
No Dearth of Money for Good Work During another interaction, one of the members of the youth group said, “Swami, we have a great passion to do service but money is something…” The Lord did not let him complete the sentence. He quickly remarked, “If you talk about money, you will get a beating now! Tell me, when did you ever feel the pinch for money for service? Did I not give you all enough money whenever you wanted? Remember each one of you, whenever you have an inclination to do good work, money will automatically come. Remember, good work is God’s work and God will take care of the money”! We, as mortals, still have that doubt despite witnessing as to how the Lord had taken up huge service projects with His Sankalpa! It is time that, as devotees of the Divine Lord, we follow His message and His Divine Steps to do good work which automatically becomes God’s work and He takes care of it! It has happened with us and we are sure it will happen to everyone who takes up Seva as God’s work.
This reminds me of yet another incident which actually proves and substantiates His words. This is not to prove His divinity but more so to reaffirm the faith we should have in Him. We were all seated (about 15 of us) in the interview room. Swami was talking about service. I was one of the eldest in the group along with another brother called Uday Bhaskar Reddy who actually was leading the team of the Hyderabad Youth Group. At this point of time, in fact, I was the only earning member in the Hyderabad Youth Group with a definite income every month. As the conversation shifted to the topic of Seva, suddenly, the Lord cast a stern look at me and chided me, “Pakoda, I do not like what you are doing! (Swami lovingly used to call me Pakoda which I cherish till date (Pakoda is a delicacy in India made of Bengal gram which bloats when fried in oil), He also used to call me Bonda (which is another delicacy in Southern India). Double size, Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima. The stern look sent a chill down my spine. I immediately said, “I am sorry, Swami”. The readers at this time may be wondering as to why I immediately gave in and apologised. Let me tell you, dear brothers and sisters, I have learnt over the years that it is always the best approach to accept what the Divine Lord says! I am sure that you would all agree that the omniscient Lord knows how many mistakes we commit every second, knowingly or unknowingly! If I had asked Him, “What did I do, Swami”?, the Lord would have pulled out a list of wrongs that I had done. So, why challenge? Meekly accept – this is the best way with the Divine Lord. So, I apologised. When I did so, His stern looks became a little softer and He said, “Why are you taking loans and doing Seva? That too at ` 2 Rs... interest? I don’t like it at all”. (Readers, please note that in India, interest rate at ` 2 is 24 per cent per month) I humbly said, “Swami, we started the project and we were stuck for funds so I took this loan to complete so that we do not get a bad name for Sai. His immediate reaction was, “Don’t do that. As a leader, you are setting a bad example for others. You are doing good work. You should come and ask Me, I shall give you money. Never take a loan from outside. What will people think? They will think that this Sai Baba is asking children to raise money through loans, that too on high interest and do Seva… it will send a wrong message… your intention is good but the society out there will not understand”. He assured us that for good work, Swami would make money rain and see that there is no dearth of funds at any time. He further said that money actually would flow like a perennial river for good work. That is the Divine Mother! It is from that day, we, as Hyderabad Youth, never looked back as we were all the time sure that the Lord is always there to support us in doing good things … If this has happened to us, why would it not happen to others? So, brothers and sisters, move forward to do good work and He is there right behind you all the time! Importance of Darshan In another instance, Swami had called us for an interview. One of the brothers asked, “Swami, how would You describe spirituality in one sentence”? Swami replied with a smile, “True spirituality is to love all and serve all”. It sounds so simple, isn’t it? To be honest, we were not very happy with the answer as it seemed to be a routine one. The Divine Lord gauging our minds, continued, “Dear children, but before you love someone, you need to love yourself. In order to love your own self, you should ensure and have that firm conviction that you do not have any bad habits and evil thoughts. In order to get to such a state of mind, one should achieve perfection. This is what I call Sadhana. In normal terms, you all think of Sadhana as doing Namasmarana, doing Puja, rituals, etc., to Me it is not. Attaining perfection in the state of mind is Sadhana. It is only when you are in a state of mind where you are in love with your own Self, only then would you be in a state of mind to love all. When you are in this state, you are ready to serve all. This is Sadhana to Me”. What an answer! Do we really love ourselves fully? Are we sure that there is no quality in us which we detest? Think about it. Let us tread the path of Sai who taught us this Mantra for salvation: Love All – Serve All. We all aspire to be called for an interview by Swami.
Once Swami called the youth group. During the interview, one of the brothers had the audacity to say, “Swami, these days you have not been calling us for interview”. Immediately, Swami said, “I have called you now”. The boy’s response was, “Swami, please call the entire group”. We were only a few of the group in Prasanthi Nilayam and hence that plea. Swami smiled and said, “You are all busy people. You never wait. You boys come, work in the canteen and leave. You never come for Darshan too. Your focus is on Seva but you should also have Darshan. You should come when I am free, not during festival time… but also remember if butter has to melt there is a need for heat. Right? Similarly, if you want Me to call you, you should also practise what I have taught you. Then I shall definitely call you. I shall be always with you, beside you, behind you, in front of you and all around you! So, start practising from this second”. Isn’t this true? We always seek the grace of the Lord without getting into perfection mode. There is an absolute assurance that the Lord will always be with us, so why delay? Let’s get into that perfection mode and seek His blessings. We also learnt that day the importance of Divine Darshan! Having said all this, dear brothers and sisters, let me emphasise that the divine messages that Swami gives us or has given us are for a lifetime which we should pass on from generation to generation. The need of the hour is to transform ourselves to be better human beings, follow our ancient cultural heritage and not get influenced by unwarranted influences of society. We need to realise that Swami lived In Prasanthi, lives in Prasanthi and will live in Prasanthi Nilayam besides residing in our hearts as the embodiment of Divine Love.
Let us not get carried away by Swami being seen in a light body... speaking through someone else… my take is that Swami is the purest form in the universe and definitely does not need someone’s polluted body to speak through… If at all He needs to speak to us… He will do so… as ours is a heart to heart relationship with Him… Today we all read about Lord Krishna’s Divine Leelas and teachings. Similarly, over the last century we have read the messages and Leelas of the Divine Master Shirdi Sai. I recall that our Lord Mother Sai had declared, addressing the devotees in Sai Kulwant Hall, and in specific the Hyderabad Youth Group, on 3rd March 1996 that there would be a day when His messages, His Leelas and the Seva that His devotees have undertaken would be spoken about by our great great grandchildren. Are we not fortunate to be contemporaries of the Lord? If we feel happy about it… let us all together move forward to put into practice His teachings and take the legacy of Sathya Sai forward... May Sai bless us all to be worthy instruments in His Mission… which is His-Story to create History! Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu – The author is a member of the Hyderabad Youth Group.
Youth in India and across the world are getting carried away by certain influences which are not true and real to their own cultural heritage. Values of the yesteryears which have been so closely safeguarded from generations are getting shattered with the new age technology. Youngsters are getting entangled in wrong actions. India, known for its rich and ancient spiritual heritage, is also one of the countries facing this challenge despite its rich ancient cultural heritage!
Walk Towards God... It is at this point that our Divine Lord Sai has provided succour to all of us with His Upadesha – (Divine words) for over 85 years and the Hyderabad Youth Group in particular has been one of those large groups in the world which has had the unique and very great fortune of being under His guidance right from the early 1980’s. In the following few paragraphs, I shall be sharing a few of such divine thoughts for the welfare of youth across the world.
I am blessed to share the care and love our Divine Mother Sai showered, especially on Hyderabad Youth group. During one of the group interviews, one of the boys asked the Lord, with a lot of concern, “Swami, we are all in delusion (Maya). How do we come out of this delusion”? Swami, the all-knowing Lord smiled! With a surprised look, He asked, “Where? Where is Maya”? He continued, “There is no Maya! For example; let us consider that you are walking in the opposite direction of the sun, you see a shadow in front of you. Right? Consider yourself walking towards the sun, the shadow is behind you and you don’t see the shadow. Correct”? We all nodded in agreement. “In a similar manner, Maya is seen when you walk towards worldly things. Instead, walk towards godly things. Dear boys, walk towards God… then Maya will be left behind you like the shadow you see. Understand?” This is a great lesson from the Almighty Lord to make us understand as to how we can stay away from Maya (delusion) and lead a life of values and Seva and get nearer to God.
On an another occasion, as we were all seated at the Divine Feet of our Mother Sai in that small, beautiful most-sought-after room in Prasanthi Mandir - the interview room, Swami said, with a lot of love, “My dear children, from today, all of you need to develop love in your hearts”. With a twinkle in His eyes and a bewitching mischievous smile, Swami continued, “This love, I am talking about is not that love which you have, think all the time and see in the cinemas. That is mad love! All the love that is shown in the cinemas is contraction love! What I am speaking about is expansion love”. Immediately, one of the boys, with audacity, asked the Lord, “Swami, what is the difference between the two”? Swami, in all His love, explained in this manner. “When you talk of something as ‘mine’, it is selfish. The love that comes with selfishness is called contraction love. This love does not expand and is limited and has a boundary. When we talk of ‘thine’ with the feeling that all that exists is of the Almighty, the love that emanates from such a divine feeling is expansion love which has no limitation and no boundary!” I am sure that you all now understand what Bhagawan was trying to hint to all of us. The love that He gives has no limitations, no boundaries, beyond caste, creed, region, religion and colour… Pure Love! Does it not remind us about a Bhajan that Swami so melodiously sings… “Love is My form… Truth is My breath… Bliss is My food…” These thoughts give absolute clarity to each one of us to expand our love in His Mission? Come, let’s do our bit in expanding this phenomenon of love across boundaries. Make God the Resident of your Heart
Swami was once narrating to us the story of Mira Bai, a great devotee of Sri Krishna. He mentioned that all His devotees aspire to get close to Him in terms of physical proximity. “All of you desire to be very close to Me in physical terms – you feel that a few centimetres away is also a great distance! Right?” He asked. We all of us nodded our heads. He went on to say, with that divine enchanting smile on His face, “Frankly, to tell you the truth, I do not know what physical distance means! I am beyond physical distance! God is beyond physical distances. One should learn to pray to the God within their own hearts”. Swami further explained, “Let Me tell you, My dear children, God is not in a temple outside. Your body is His temple. He resides in your heart”. He added, “When the Rana of Chittor (Rajasthan) did not allow Mira to enter the temple, she immediately realised this truth and practised this form of devotion. She declared for her own self that her heart is a temple where Lord Krishna resides, and it is at this point of time that she rendered the famous and popular Bhajan”: Chalo Re Man Ganga Yamuna Teer, Ganga Yamuna Nirmal Pani Sheetal Hota Sarir (Oh mind! Go to the banks of the Ganga and Yamuna; the water of Ganga and Yamuna is pure; it will make the body cool and serene). The Lord then sang the entire Bhajan for all of us… the Divine Lord in Divine ecstasy! We were so fortunate! Things did not stop at that point. Lord Sathya Sai Krishna, seated in front of us, continued to explain with gestures the meaning of the Bhajan. He explained that Ganga Yamuna here mean the subtle channels in the spine, Ida and Pingala, and Teer denotes the point where they meet in the centre of eyebrows; the point of concentration where one can feel the presence of God! When man focuses at this point of concentration, the cool breeze of bliss and joy will pervade within. Brothers and sisters, isn’t this explanation amazing? Let us all make our hearts the residence of our Lord and derive the bliss and joy of the grace of the Almighty… more so when we do not see the Lord in His physical form in Prasanthi Nilayam.
No Dearth of Money for Good Work During another interaction, one of the members of the youth group said, “Swami, we have a great passion to do service but money is something…” The Lord did not let him complete the sentence. He quickly remarked, “If you talk about money, you will get a beating now! Tell me, when did you ever feel the pinch for money for service? Did I not give you all enough money whenever you wanted? Remember each one of you, whenever you have an inclination to do good work, money will automatically come. Remember, good work is God’s work and God will take care of the money”! We, as mortals, still have that doubt despite witnessing as to how the Lord had taken up huge service projects with His Sankalpa! It is time that, as devotees of the Divine Lord, we follow His message and His Divine Steps to do good work which automatically becomes God’s work and He takes care of it! It has happened with us and we are sure it will happen to everyone who takes up Seva as God’s work.
This reminds me of yet another incident which actually proves and substantiates His words. This is not to prove His divinity but more so to reaffirm the faith we should have in Him. We were all seated (about 15 of us) in the interview room. Swami was talking about service. I was one of the eldest in the group along with another brother called Uday Bhaskar Reddy who actually was leading the team of the Hyderabad Youth Group. At this point of time, in fact, I was the only earning member in the Hyderabad Youth Group with a definite income every month. As the conversation shifted to the topic of Seva, suddenly, the Lord cast a stern look at me and chided me, “Pakoda, I do not like what you are doing! (Swami lovingly used to call me Pakoda which I cherish till date (Pakoda is a delicacy in India made of Bengal gram which bloats when fried in oil), He also used to call me Bonda (which is another delicacy in Southern India). Double size, Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima. The stern look sent a chill down my spine. I immediately said, “I am sorry, Swami”. The readers at this time may be wondering as to why I immediately gave in and apologised. Let me tell you, dear brothers and sisters, I have learnt over the years that it is always the best approach to accept what the Divine Lord says! I am sure that you would all agree that the omniscient Lord knows how many mistakes we commit every second, knowingly or unknowingly! If I had asked Him, “What did I do, Swami”?, the Lord would have pulled out a list of wrongs that I had done. So, why challenge? Meekly accept – this is the best way with the Divine Lord. So, I apologised. When I did so, His stern looks became a little softer and He said, “Why are you taking loans and doing Seva? That too at ` 2 Rs... interest? I don’t like it at all”. (Readers, please note that in India, interest rate at ` 2 is 24 per cent per month) I humbly said, “Swami, we started the project and we were stuck for funds so I took this loan to complete so that we do not get a bad name for Sai. His immediate reaction was, “Don’t do that. As a leader, you are setting a bad example for others. You are doing good work. You should come and ask Me, I shall give you money. Never take a loan from outside. What will people think? They will think that this Sai Baba is asking children to raise money through loans, that too on high interest and do Seva… it will send a wrong message… your intention is good but the society out there will not understand”. He assured us that for good work, Swami would make money rain and see that there is no dearth of funds at any time. He further said that money actually would flow like a perennial river for good work. That is the Divine Mother! It is from that day, we, as Hyderabad Youth, never looked back as we were all the time sure that the Lord is always there to support us in doing good things … If this has happened to us, why would it not happen to others? So, brothers and sisters, move forward to do good work and He is there right behind you all the time! Importance of Darshan In another instance, Swami had called us for an interview. One of the brothers asked, “Swami, how would You describe spirituality in one sentence”? Swami replied with a smile, “True spirituality is to love all and serve all”. It sounds so simple, isn’t it? To be honest, we were not very happy with the answer as it seemed to be a routine one. The Divine Lord gauging our minds, continued, “Dear children, but before you love someone, you need to love yourself. In order to love your own self, you should ensure and have that firm conviction that you do not have any bad habits and evil thoughts. In order to get to such a state of mind, one should achieve perfection. This is what I call Sadhana. In normal terms, you all think of Sadhana as doing Namasmarana, doing Puja, rituals, etc., to Me it is not. Attaining perfection in the state of mind is Sadhana. It is only when you are in a state of mind where you are in love with your own Self, only then would you be in a state of mind to love all. When you are in this state, you are ready to serve all. This is Sadhana to Me”. What an answer! Do we really love ourselves fully? Are we sure that there is no quality in us which we detest? Think about it. Let us tread the path of Sai who taught us this Mantra for salvation: Love All – Serve All. We all aspire to be called for an interview by Swami.
Once Swami called the youth group. During the interview, one of the brothers had the audacity to say, “Swami, these days you have not been calling us for interview”. Immediately, Swami said, “I have called you now”. The boy’s response was, “Swami, please call the entire group”. We were only a few of the group in Prasanthi Nilayam and hence that plea. Swami smiled and said, “You are all busy people. You never wait. You boys come, work in the canteen and leave. You never come for Darshan too. Your focus is on Seva but you should also have Darshan. You should come when I am free, not during festival time… but also remember if butter has to melt there is a need for heat. Right? Similarly, if you want Me to call you, you should also practise what I have taught you. Then I shall definitely call you. I shall be always with you, beside you, behind you, in front of you and all around you! So, start practising from this second”. Isn’t this true? We always seek the grace of the Lord without getting into perfection mode. There is an absolute assurance that the Lord will always be with us, so why delay? Let’s get into that perfection mode and seek His blessings. We also learnt that day the importance of Divine Darshan! Having said all this, dear brothers and sisters, let me emphasise that the divine messages that Swami gives us or has given us are for a lifetime which we should pass on from generation to generation. The need of the hour is to transform ourselves to be better human beings, follow our ancient cultural heritage and not get influenced by unwarranted influences of society. We need to realise that Swami lived In Prasanthi, lives in Prasanthi and will live in Prasanthi Nilayam besides residing in our hearts as the embodiment of Divine Love.
Let us not get carried away by Swami being seen in a light body... speaking through someone else… my take is that Swami is the purest form in the universe and definitely does not need someone’s polluted body to speak through… If at all He needs to speak to us… He will do so… as ours is a heart to heart relationship with Him… Today we all read about Lord Krishna’s Divine Leelas and teachings. Similarly, over the last century we have read the messages and Leelas of the Divine Master Shirdi Sai. I recall that our Lord Mother Sai had declared, addressing the devotees in Sai Kulwant Hall, and in specific the Hyderabad Youth Group, on 3rd March 1996 that there would be a day when His messages, His Leelas and the Seva that His devotees have undertaken would be spoken about by our great great grandchildren. Are we not fortunate to be contemporaries of the Lord? If we feel happy about it… let us all together move forward to put into practice His teachings and take the legacy of Sathya Sai forward... May Sai bless us all to be worthy instruments in His Mission… which is His-Story to create History! Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu – The author is a member of the Hyderabad Youth Group.
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