Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has been extremely kind and loving in giving me the chance of being a student in His Institute (and hopefully for life too). I would like to share personal experiences with Swami and thoughts that He has inspired via many episodes through this blog.
Sathyam Shivam Sundaram! Truth Auspiciousness Beauty!
The vacuum of the Omnipresence compared to the Presence What happened on the 24th of April, 2011 when Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left the physical frame is inexplicable for anyone who considered Him as Guru or God, Master or Mentor, parent or pal. All devotees were heart-struck at this act of their Swami. And the question that arose in all was, “What next now?”
The Bharatiya scriptures have always accorded a very special place for the Guru. It is said that the mother points out the father to the child. The father points out the Guru and the Guru points out the Lord.
The term ‘Guru’ is loosely translated as the ‘preceptor’ for want of a better word just as the term ‘Bharatiya’ is often loosely translated as ‘Indian’ for want of a better word. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba says that the term ‘Bharatiya’ is made up of two Sanskrit roots - Bha meaning God and Rathi meaning lover. A person who has love for God is a Bharatiya and the land in which such people reside is Bharat. Since India has been the birthplace of many religions, prophets, men of God and the incarnations of the Lord, it is referred to as Bharat. Thus, when Swami refers to the glorious Bharatiyas in His discourses, He is referring to the people who love God and not exactly to those that reside in the geographical boundaries of India.
In similar vein, Baba says that Guru is made up of two Sanskrit roots - Gu which stands for Gunateeta (beyond attributes) and Ru which stands for Rupavarjita (beyond form). A famous Sanskrit verse says, “Acharya Devo Bhava” which translates into, “The Guru is God”, because the Guru shows the way to God. In this scenario, one can only imagine the good fortune of having the Lord Himself come as one’s Guru as I strongly believe happened with the advent of Bhagawan Baba.
But having a Master / Lord / Guru in human form has a big disadvantage too as I learned on that fateful day in April. The physical human frame is temporary in its nature and has to go one day even when it is occupied by the Supreme Being. And when that happens, the devotees and followers are totally at a loss as to what to do. The form that they love and adore has departed and they are drowned in sorrow.
And while some decided to wait for Him to take up the promised form as Prema Sai Baba, some decided to seek Him within. Some, in their desperation, began to seek Him in other Gurus, in other objects of faith (like the house of some particular devotee which is ‘specially blessed’ with manifestations of Grace like vibhuti) or in the company of people through whom they believed their Swami 'talks’.
The special blessing and a very significant lesson I am honestly not waiting for Prema Sai. I am trying to connect with Swami in the form that my heart loves and longs for. This divine hide and seek is a game and I shall not change whom I am seeking simply because He has managed to hide well! My heart races back to an episode during the Ashadi Ekadasi celebrations in 2009, the 4th of July to be precise.
The children of the Bal Vikas programme from Mumbai had put up a drama on the life of a saint, Gajanan Maharaj. Swami was very happy with their performance and as the drama concluded, He decided to move down the stage and grant them group photos with Him. I was seated on the stage, behind Swami, from where I was photographing the drama. As He was wheeled down the stage, He looked at me and said something. I could not make out what He was saying and so I went close to Him. He was pointing to something behind me. I turned and saw that He was pointing to a cutout which had been placed on the stage. It was a large wooden frame on which there was a collage of all the saints from the land of Maharashtra. The frame had been placed on the main stage as part of the Ashadi Ekadasi decorations.
As He pointed to the frame, Swami asked me, “Are you sitting along with your Gurus?”
The collage of the various 'Gurus' which had been placed on the stage for Ashadi Ekadasi.
I turned around, saw the wooden frame with the many masters painted on it and smiled.
Among the several magical memories that a Sai-student carries of life at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, a Divine visit to the hostel often ranks very high. When Swami visits the hostel, it feels like the Lord wanted to call all the students for an interview but did not have an interview room as big as His heart! And so, He decides to visit the students in the hostel - it is like a mass private interview on the largest scale! Such a visit brings many close interactions with Swami. He speaks to the students and the students express their feelings for Him through conversations, talks, short skits and songs. There are momentous materializations and rousing revelations. A taste of such a visit can be obtained by reading the happenings during one such visit that had taken place in 2003. Each visit is unique and the ‘uncertainty’ about how it will unravel only adds to the anticipation and excitement.
The memorable Divine visit to the hostel in March 2003
Thus, every student of the SSSIHL wishes to be part of at least one Divine visit to the hostel. The students in our batch were no exception! It is no wonder that we wanted such a repeat of history. But Swami always has His ways of refusing to make such a visit unless the boys plead hard enough. We prepared ourselves for such excuses of the Lord, and went to the mandir armed with a large invitation card. The card had many photos of Swami with the students during many previous hostel visits and the wording was this,
“Swami, our home is empty without you. Please bless it with your loving visit.”
Different gender, same scenes! Swami's visit to the girls' hostel in Anantapur brings thrill to everyone.
It was the 28th of February in 2005. The clock face in Sai Kulwant Hall proclaimed 4:15 pm when Swami came out on His darshan rounds. As He neared us, we got up on our knees with the card and showed it to Him. He looked at the card and said out aloud,
“EMPTY.”
“Swami, it is empty because You are not there. If You visit our hostel, it will cease to be empty. It will become full!”, we answered.
Swami nodded and told us to go back and sit in our places.
Do we miss what we seek because of how we wish to get it?
There is a popular story that goes as follows.
A town gets flooded and there is water everywhere. A pious man is trapped on the roof of a building and has nowhere to go. The rising flood waters are slowly encircling the building and he has nowhere to go. But he is not at all worried. His faith in God is firm and he simply starts praying. He says,
“Dear God. All my life I have worshipped you and have had steady faith in you. Please come to my rescue.”
Within a few minutes, the waters have risen a few more meters and it is only a matter of 15 more minutes before they swallow the building completely. Presently, a boat comes by and the boatman shouts out,
“Sir! I have place for one more on my boat. Would you care to join?”
“No! You carry on and save someone else. God will save me.”
The boat goes away.
Minutes before the building is completely submerged, a helicopter comes above and, over the megaphone, a shout is heard,
“Sir! Please hold on. We shall rescue you.”
“I DON’T WANT YOUR HELP. GOD WILL SAVE ME. YOU PLEASE CARRY ON”, the man screams back.
When I met Rakshitta Ravi for the first time, she hardly spoke anything with me. Yet, she exuded the affection and warmth that one would have for one’s own uncle! I was in awe of her because she had come to Puttaparthi as the World Champion in U-8 Blitz Chess. It is not everyday that you get to meet such young champs! She had come to meet me with her trophy and gold medal that she had won at the Championship at Dubai in late 2013. Was I flattered!
The little champ with a gold podium finish in the U8 Blitz Chess.
At home, as we settled comfortably, her mother, Sai Meera, told me that Rakshi loved Swami’s stories more than anything else. She would listen to His stories without fail even between her matches. The statement that set my heart pounding with thrill was,
“... And Rakshi always asks for stories written by Aravind uncle...”
It is a wonderful feeling to discover that someone whom you are in awe of is also in awe of you. I brought out my wooden chess set and sought Rakshitta’s autograph on it.
“I would be grateful if you both also sign it...”, I requested the champion parents too.
My special Chessboard at home.
When anyone asks me to autograph a book, my heart celebrates. While part of it is definitely gratitude to Swami, I cannot deny that my ego too raises its hood, however hard I try to suppress it. It was in this regard that I learned a lesson in humility from Rakshi. She turned to her mother and asked,
“Uncle has Swami with him always. Why does he need my autograph?”
That statement of genuine innocence hit me like a ton of bricks. Isn’t it so true that though we get God, we seem to value His creation more. At times, we even forget God’s value in our actually useless pursuits!
Three Chess masters leave their signatures behind the board and one of them leaves a strong lesson for me... :)
“Don’t say like that Rakshi. Just sign for uncle...”
Her mother ensured that I got a signature but Rakshi ensured that I got a sign from Swami on how He alone is worth valuing. In that instant, I felt that I should remain connected with Rakshi also and learn many more such gems from her. Well, I am happy to say that I learned at least one more profound lesson in FAITH. But for that, we will have to proceed with Rakshi’s story from where we left off.
{This is the second part of an exciting story. For complete joy and satisfaction, it is recommended that you proceed only after you have read the first part at the link below:
Rakshitta had qualified for the Asian and World Youth tournaments of 2012. She won the bronze medal in the Asian Youth tournament at Sri Lanka but went medal-less at the World Youth tournament at Slovenia.
“Ravi is so cool about everything that when Rakshi goes for a tournament with him, she somehow feels that she is on a vacation. No surprise that she went without a medal at Slovenia”, Sai Meera adds with a smile.
Rakshi focused on the Nationals again under her mother’s training and guidance. Once again, she came second in the country and won the opportunity to represent India in the 2013 Asian and World Youth championships. It was during that World Youth Championship at Dubai that Rakshi won the gold medal for rapid chess (Blitz), though she went medal-less in the Classic chess tournament. She offered that medal to Swami at the Mahasamadhi because she firmly believed it to be the gift of His grace alone. This also ‘coincidentally’ happened during a historic Bal Vikas meet because of which she also figured in the Radiosai article on the event.
Eighteen year old Ganesh enrolled into the Brindavan campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for the Bachelors course in Chemistry. Little did he realize that his pursuit for higher learning would transform into a pursuit for the highest yearning and would lead him to learn the highest pursuit in life. He did not imagine that along with a 3-year Bachelors course, he was also being enrolled for a lifelong internship in internalizing Divine love.
The Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality was beginning and every student joining the hallowed portals of the University had to compulsorily attend it. Thus, for the first two weeks, of his life as Swami’s student, Ganesh was showered with daily discourses of Bhagawan Baba. Apart from those, he was also blessed to hear many talks and satsangs by scholars, devotees, people of eminence, teachers and senior students of the University. What he heard enthralled and excited him. He kept awake late in the night replaying to himself all the wonderful things he was listening to.
But grasping God, Swami, by listening to narratives about Him is like trying to understand the magnificent oceanic depths by standing on the shore. While one gets a sweeping view of the immensity, to truly understand the beauty, grandeur and tranquility of the ocean, one has to dive deep into it. However, listening to a devotee extol the Lord is also akin to listening to a restaurant waiter passionately describe a delicacy. It prods the listener to quickly seek that, which is being described! That is exactly what happened to Ganesh.
The more he listened to the leelas, mahimas and experiences divine, the more he thirsted to experience Swami directly and His Divine Love. It was not a passing desire or a comparison-game where he wanted to be in the position of others. It was a genuine urge to experience the Divine acknowledgement that his Swami was omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. And so, Ganesh began to silently yet intensely pray to Bhagwaan. Several days passed in this manner but no experience seemed to be forthcoming. One day, Ganesh just happened to come across a quote by Baba,
“Take one step towards Me and I will take a hundred towards you.”
He instantly knew what the problem was - he had not taken the first step. He prayed to Swami and immediately took a sankalpam (resolution),
“Swami, I will read the fifty chapters of the Shirdi Sai Satcharitra (the holy story of Shirdi Sai) over the next 50 days, one chapter daily. It is said that when one completed the reading of the Satcharitra, one’s prayer is answered. All I pray to You is this - bless me with the gift of a Divine experience. I have heard several experiences from students, teachers and devotees but if you grant me one personal experience then my Faith will become firm forever!”
Ganesh wanted to give his heart entirely to Swami and wanted Swami to extend to him the same deal!!
He knew what Swami had once told a devotee in this regard. In spirit it went like this,
“If you are praying with the objective of developing faith, you are allowed to put conditions and test Me. I will satisfy all your conditions and grant you that faith in Me. But after I have satisfied all your conditions, if you put one more condition, then you will become a ‘Doubting Thomas’ for life and suffer in your self-created ignorance.”
However, Ganesh had not made a prayer with this intention to test Swami, challenge Him or sign a contract with Him. It was simply a humble plea of a boy who was thirsting to taste the nectar of His Divine Love and was ready to do anything for that sake.
The divine discourse came to an end and the 15,000 strong audience joined wholeheartedly in the bhajan song that the Master, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, sang. My voice too was one among those thousands and it definitely sounded energetic and enthusiastic. How many ever times I heard Swami sing the same bhajan, Prema Muditha Manase Kaho, it seemed ever fresh and fulfilling. Even as Swami lead the bhajan, He clapped and enthused every tongue to delve on the divine name while every heart was diving deep into a sea of tranquility. As the bhajan neared the conclusion, He looked to a side and beckoned to the students seated there with circular vessels containing the prasadam - eatables first offered to God and then partaken as a token of Divine benediction.
It was standard practice after every discourse that Swami would bless the prasadam to be distributed. It would invariably be His students who would do the distribution.
The three students walked up to Him and He blessed the prasadam in the vessels. He then told them to begin distribution to the gathered people. Suddenly, there was activity everywhere. A group of students transported dozens of such vessels to the ladies’ half of the hall where women volunteers took them to begin distribution. On the gents’ side however, the students themselves began the distribution. The initial number of three had now grown to tens of students assisting in the distribution. Unable to resist the joy in doing my Swami’s work, I too got up to join in the distribution. Soon, I was wading through people, distributing prasadam. The people on their part accepted the prasadam with great love and humility. I felt so blessed.
With that feeling of blessedness, there also arose in me a memory which added to my joy. It was the memory of a Trayee session in Brindavan, when Sri Sanjay Sahni narrated the reason behind Swami assigning this task of prasadam distribution to the students.
Prasadam serving as the premium to the grand insurance of His Grace
On one occasion, Swami asked the students and teachers whether they were aware of the reason why He insists on them serving prasadam to the devotees in any assembly. As is the case generally, nobody was able to fathom the correct reason. With a smile, Swami Himself gave the answer. He said,
“There will be times and situations in the future when you will require my help and intercession. This act of prasadam distribution done now will ensure that you are worthy of my Grace then. Then, my Grace will flow to you without limit.”
That was Sahni sir’s narrative that day.
Swami’s answer is stunning in its implications. The act of serving the Lord’s prasadam is like an insurance premium. The only difference in this case is that God’s grace is like an “infinite” insurance that helps you in your time of need beyond all limits. This means that, unlike a normal insurance, there is no limit to the multiplying factor which God applies to our ‘premiums’. As per the need He can multiply it a million times, a billion times or even a trillion times. But it is important to have made some ‘premium’ deposit else, if a big zero is multiplied with any factor, it still remains a zero. Swami’s love is such that He Himself ensures that the students make those ‘premium’ deposits!
While every ‘Sai Student’ will rejoice reading this and thinking of the many occasions when he/she was made to serve prasadam either in the darshan hall or during the Grama Seva, the same might not be the case with the world at large! It appears as though Swami is partial towards the students and is ‘ensuring’ their welfare by Himself. What about the rest of humanity who have not got the chance to serve, being directly commanded by Swami?
Well, intuition says that any service done automatically becomes a ‘premium’ paid - irrespective of whether Swami directly ‘commanded’ it or not. Just like the educational institutions and medical institutions by Bhagawan serve as models, these incidents and explanations also serve as models for all of us to emulate. Definitely, service is the way to go and ‘pay’ premiums for the insurance of our life. However, for those that are unable to distinguish intuition from the monkey mind drawing its solace via assuring, self-made statements, here is a thrilling account of a daily-wage earner. That will prove for sure the importance and magnificence of seva or doing service.
All through His life Swami has always pointed out the importance of selfless service.
Ramesh Kumar’s world goes dark in the dark
Ramesh Kumar (name changed to protect privacy) was one among the several workers residing in the servants’ colony of the NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) power plant at Vindhyanagar in Singrauli district of the Indian state, Madhya Pradesh. A native from West Bengal, he used to perform his domestic duties in several homes of the officers working in the plant. One among the several homes he worked in belonged to Mr. Krishnan. Mr. Krishnan was (and is) a staunch devotee of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and was working as the Deputy General Manager at the plant.
Ramesh had seen Swami’s pictures in Krishnan’s home and had also come to know a little about Him. He respected the Master and was sincere in his duties. Life was going on smoothly for him till that fateful day when he realized that he was unable to see clearly in the fading light of the day. After that, it was a continuous decline and Ramesh feared that soon, he might become completely blind. That was when he went to his master, Krishnan, and confided in him.
“Please help me sir. I think that my eyesight is getting bad.”
“Have you gone to a doctor?”
“Yes sir. But he says that an operation is necessary within a year else I may lose sight completely. The cost of the operation is 2 lakhs (about $4000 US). How can I ever afford that? Can Sai Baba help me?”
Ramesh’s monthly salary was about 5,000 INR (about $100 US then). Krishnan knew that he would never be able to afford it. But that was an amount that even the Deputy General Manager could not afford easily! What was he to do? Krishnan decided to put to acid test the word given by Swami.
“You know, every Thursday we have bhajans and seva in our Sai Samithi. Why don’t you come next Thursday and join us. I am sure that something nice will work out for your surgery.”
Ramesh nodded hopefully and left. Krishnan, in the inner recesses of his heart, hoped fervently that Swami’s words would fructify. What were Swami’s words on which Krishnan was relying so heavily upon?
The message of the Lord
On the 22nd of November, 1991, the prime minister of India, P.V.Narasimha Rao, inaugurated the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Puttaparthi. The tertiary care hospital which began offering medical care TOTALLY FREE of cost to one and all is a miracle story in itself.
Watch this episode in the memorable "Message of the Lord"
series in which the miraculous hospital story is covered.
Even as the hospital started serving everyone with medical needs in cardiology, neurology, urology and ophthalmology, the waiting list of patients wanting to receive treatment grew to enormous proportions. In spite of 6-10 operations being done daily, the hospital was unable to tend to ever-increasing number of patients that arrived at its doorstep with nothing more than hope. Along with that also came an increasing number of people who walked away healthy and happy from the hospital. Endless are the stories of patients that have received this unique loving and healing touch of the hospital. Enthused by the phenomenal success of the hospital, all the Sai-fraternity began to spread news of this temple of healing in their respective hometowns.
That is how even Ramesh had heard about the hospital and he hoped that it would provide him a solution from his problem. However, it wasn’t that simple.
As stated earlier, the waiting-list of patients was ever-swelling. Many patients would come to the hospital to only learn that there was a huge queue. The doctors were doing their best but some patients would have to wait months or even years. Driven by desperation, the patients would rush to the darshan grounds with the hope that Sai Baba would cure them in an instant without the painful surgery of the hospital. That was when Swami called the active workers from most Indian states to the portico for what would be an ‘open’ interview. Among the active workers was Mr.S.K.Sachdeva, the state president for Sri Sathya Sai Organizations(SSSO) in Madhya Pradesh.
Swami addressed all of them,
“See, our super-specialty hospital in Puttaparthi is getting a large number of patients. All of you are sending patients from your respective states for treatment here. Since the hospital has a limited intake, the remaining patients come to the hall here hoping that I cure them. How can I simply cure them like that?”
Swami seemed to give a few moments for the words to sink in. He then continued.
“Instead of directly sending the patients here, advise them lovingly to do some service and sadhana. After they do the service and sadhana, send them to me. Then, I can pour my Grace on them for the service rendered and help them.” That showed that even the Lord could be ‘bought’ over - through selfless service and sadhana!
Mr. Sachdeva had conveyed this to all the members in his state and that is how Mr. Krishnan came to know of it. And that was the reason why he told Ramesh to start attending the service activities in the samithi on every Thursday. He was trying out Swami’s suggested remedy.
That was how Ramesh began to spend time in service. He began to give his time and energy to help the homeless, the aged and the orphans. He also realized that service is not like a ‘timed’ job; it is more a way of life. Kind words and prayerful thoughts were as much a service as thoughtful actions. Such was the joy he derived from service that he also started to develop love and devotion to the orange-robe clad form of the Lord. Four months passed this way. Though his eyesight had not improved, it definitely felt as if it had not deteriorated either. That in itself felt like a great blessing for Ramesh. Krishnan was happy seeing all the positives Ramesh had gained.
One night, his wife asked Krishnan,
“You had assured Ramesh that something would work out for his surgery. Though happiness has been added to his life, his eye problem remains. Either you try to help him out or at least let him know that there is nothing more you can do. He has just another 8 months to get the surgery done.”
On the eve of his birthday, these were Krishnan’s thoughts too. As his seva, he wanted to gift something to Ramesh but he knew that the surgery was way beyond his means. With a strong thought that he should do something good, he went to sleep.
It was a hearty conversation for the next ten minutes as both friends caught up with each other. It was in the course of the conversation that his friend Raghunath mentioned about another close friend of his who was an important doctor in Sankara Netralaya, a charitable eye hospital. The reader can easily guess what happened next. Krishnan poured out Ramesh’s optical woes and Raghunath assured him not to worry. Within the next week, Ramesh was operated and cured of his ailment, free of cost, thanks to the doctor friend!
But Ramesh did not believe that this was just a coincidence. Neither did Krishnan.
“Sir! You told me to join service and everything would be taken care of. That is exactly what has happened! This is so magical and fantastic. This secret should be shared with one and all. I feel it will help not only in solving physical ailments but also help in all kinds of problems.”
Ramesh was bustling with so much energy that Krishnan could not help smiling broadly.He was so happy today. In the inner recesses of his heart, he sent prayers of gratitude to Swami for having given him such a beautiful birthday gift. It was almost as if he himself had received the eye-treatment.
That is the beauty of service. It uplifts both the ‘receiver’ and the ‘donor’ because in reality, in service everyone is actually a ‘receiver’. We very often mistake service to be some help rendered to others.
There was once this farmer with the best watermelons in the country. After every harvest, he would distribute his seeds to all other farmers in his village. While everyone considered him to be doing a great service he said that if he did not do as he was doing, the bees may pollinate his flowers with lesser grade pollen from the flowers of other fields! Then he would no longer have the best watermelons. So to ensure perfect harvest, he did the so called service. Service benefits the recipient no doubt, but the one who serves benefits most! If we remember this, the things we think and do daily will be so much different than what we do daily!
A passer by once saw a little calf stranded in slush and was struggling to get out. He immediately dived in and rescued it. It was hailed as an act of service by some while some,laughed at it as an act of foolishness. The man simply said, "I was in great pain to see that calf suffering. I did nothing foolish nor did I render service. Whatever I did, I did it to ease my own pain." When we stand strong in this feeling alone can we render service, for in the process of service, we are truly helping ourselves.
One good deed inspires another
Ramesh took it upon himself to share this great secret of service to one and all. He began to regularly fetch different people to the Thursday seva telling them,
“Just do good and see good happening to you. Do service and you will receive God’s blessings that will solve all your problems.”
Even to this day, Ramesh continues to do this and has become a very key worker in the Sathya Sai Seva Organizations. Needless to say, Krishnan too continues to use the mantra of service whenever anyone comes to him with any problem. And it seems to work every single time to date!
Excuse me now. I want to rush and do my bit of daily service. No! Its not because I am suffering from any problem. It is because I am convinced that it will give me great happiness. Wait a minute! Is it possible that I am happy always because my little ‘premium’ payments have ensured a blissful ‘insurance’ from the troubles of the world? The only way to check would be to stop doing service (which actually I am doing for my joy) and see. But I am not ready for that risk!
Happy serving everyone!
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