DIVINE WAY TO SCRUTINIZE FOR AWARDS & REWARDS

DIVINE WAY TO SCRUTINIZE

 

 

"There are so many crowding to Sai Baba. Do they all get benefit from Him? "

 

To this, Baba replied orally - "Look at the mango tree in blossom. If all the flowers brought fruit, what a splendid crop it would be. But do they? Most fall off (either as flowers or as unripe fruits) by wind etc. Very few remain". – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 25

 

 

Millions come to Kashi as pilgrims. It is said that those who see Kashi will not be born again. 

One day at Kailasha, Parvathi asked Shiva, "Lord, I have heard that all those who visit Kashi, where there is a celebrated shrine for your worship, will attain Kailasha and stay on there in your presence. Millions are coming to Kashi, but is this place big enough to accommodate all of them?" 

Shiva replied, "Every one of them cannot come to Kailasha. I shall design a play and make clear to you who among the millions can come here. You, too, have a role to act. Do as I direct you to." 

Parvathi became an old lady of 80 and Shiva a rickety old man of 90. The old woman had the old man on her lap, right at the main entrance of the famous Shiva shrine of Vishweshwara, and she lamented: "My husband is terribly thirsty. He is about to die of thirst. I cannot leave him and go to the river Ganga to bring him water. Will any of you pour a little Ganges water down his throat and save his life?"

The pilgrims were coming up from the ghats after their ceremonial bath in the holy river, their clothes still wet and clinging to their bodies. Some of them commented that their peace was disturbed by the sight of this pathetic couple. `We have come to take Darshan of the Lord, and look what meets our eye.' There were some who flatly ignored her cries and lifted their noses in the air. Some said, `Wait. Let us finish the worship inside the temple and then we shall bring the Ganga water for you.' No one offered them Ganga water since they needed it for themselves! 

Just then a robber, who was hurrying into the temple to pick a few pockets, heard the plaintive voice of the old woman and halted near them. 

She cried, "Son, we came to this place to have Darshan of Lord Vishweshwara of Kaashi, but my husband has fainted out of sheer exhaustion. He might survive if someone will bring a little Ganga water and pour it down his throat. I cannot leave him here and go for water. Please help me and earn the merit." 

The robber was moved into compassion despite his `profession' ! He had a little Ganga water in the hollow gourd he had with him. He knelt down near the dying person on the lap of the old woman, but the woman stopped him suddenly saying, "The moment the Ganga water wets his throat, my husband may die; he is in the last stage of living. Therefore speak a word of truth and pour the water." 

The robber could not understand what she meant, so she explained, "Speak within his hearing, some good deed that you have done in your life, and then pour the water in his mouth." That created a problem for the robber. He was at his wits end. He could not quite comply. 

He said, "I have, in truth, not done any good deed so far. This present act, the offering of water to this thirsty man, is the very first good deed I am responsible for." And saying this, he placed the gourd at the lips of the old man and gave him a mouthful. 
Just at the moment, the couple disappeared and in their placed stood Shiva and Parvathi, in all their splendour, blessing the robber who was completely stunned & speechless!

Lord Shiva told him, "Life is to be dedicated for the service of others and not devoted to the exclusive interests of oneself. Howsoever many wicked deeds you might have done so far, for your selfless offering of Ganga water with truth on your tongue, we bless you with this Vision & grant you liberation! Remember there is no morality higher than truth; there is no prayer more fruitful than seva. No amount of rituals & worship would help if you don't do seva. Both are essential just like a bird requires two wings. With these two wings you can reach Kailasha!!!"

 

 

 

Few Ramana Maharshi Talks

Happiness is born of Peace and can reign only when there is no disturbance. Disturbance is due to thoughts, which arise in the mind. When the mind is absent, there will be perfect Peace.

Even the present is mere imagination, for the sense of time is purely mental.

"You and I are the same. What I have done is surely possible for all. You are the Self now and can never be anything else. Throw your worries to the wind, turn within and find Peace."

The ultimate truth is so simple; it is nothing more than being in one's natural, original state.

The Self is always there. It is you. There is nothing but you.

Everyday life is not divorced from the Eternal State. So long as the daily life is imagined to be different from the spiritual life these difficulties arise. If the spiritual life is rightly understood, the active life will be found to be not different from it (Talk 375).

When a pot is broken, the space within it is not, and similarly, when the body dies the Self in it remains eternal.

All that is required to realize the Self is to be still.

By day I praised you, and never knew it. By night I stayed with you, and never knew it. I always thought that I was me--but no, I was you and never knew it

The realized person weeps with the weeping, laughs with the laughing, plays with the playful, sings with those who sing, keeping time to the song.

By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the One.

Since the one aim is to realize the Self by destroying the ego, to engage oneself in verbal wrangling about the nature of the world is but vain. ~ Truth Revealed (Sadvidya)

We are always the Self. Only, we don't realise it.

There are no stages in Realization or degrees in Liberation.

You speak as if you are here, and the Self is somewhere else and you had to go and reach it, but in fact the Self is here and now, and you are always It.

Your business is simply to surrender and leave everything to me.

Engage yourself in the living present. The future will take care of itself.

The body itself is a thought.

You imagine it is something somewhere high in the sky, far away, and has to descend. It is really inside you, in your Heart, and the moment you effect subsidence or merger of the mind into its Source, grace rushes forth, sprouting as from a spring within you.

Your duty is to Be, and not to be this or that.

Since you shine as ''I'' in the Heart, your name itself is Heart.

It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?"

The mind is commonly said to be strong if it can think furiously. But here the mind is strong if it is free from thoughts.

I would like to take a moment to thank each and everyOne of you who support this page with your wonderful insights. May you rediscover your true nature and live as That. Lॐve blessings from the Heart

Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind.

The mind cannot seek the mind.

Grace is not something to be acquired from others. If it is external, it is useless. All that is necessary is to know its existence in you.

You know that you know nothing.

Without consciousness, time and space do not exist; they appear within Consciousness but have no reality of their own.

When will the realization of the Self be gained? When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer. ~ from Who Am I? (Nan Yar?)

Be yourself and nothing more.

You and I are the same. What I have done is surely possible for all. You are the Self now and can never be anything else. Throw your worries to the wind, turn within and find Peace.

True humanity lies not in returning violence for violence, but in forgiveness.

"Only those who need not engage in action, are happy; they are perfectly content, and self-contained, and they experience happiness which extends to all the pores of the body." ~ Tripura Rahasya

When there is no "I" there is no karma.

Questioner: What is the state beyond bliss? Maharshi: It is the state of unceasing peace of mind which is found in the state of absolute quiescence.

The existence of this existence-consciousness can be inferred by the objects illuminated by it. It does not become the object of consciousness.

Guru is none other than the Self. If there is a external guru he will only point to the self

Q: How long does it take a man to be reborn after death? Is it immediately after death or some time later? 

Maharshi: You do not know what you were before birth, yet you want to know what you will be after death. Do you know what you are now?

Existence or Consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it.

"Only the knowledge of direct experience can be true and useful; the Self is to be realized and not to be talked about." ~ The Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge

To the ignorant and the wise alike the world exists. To the former, the world observed alone is real. To the wise, the formless source of the visible is the one world, Real and Perfect." ~ Sat-Darshana Bhashya

You know that you are.

"The Self is one and is identical with the Lord. In order to see the Self or to see the Lord, the ego must get consumed and lost, having surrendered itself to the Supreme Being." Truth Revealed (Sadvidya)


The seat of Realization is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart.

The realized being does not see the world as different from himself.

Married or unmarried, a man can realise the Self, because that is here and now. If it were not so, but attainable by some efforts at some other time, and if it were new and something to be acquired, it would not be worthy of pursuit. Because what is not natural cannot be permanent either. But what I say is that the Self is here and now and alone.

Be what you are. That which is, is ever present. Even now you are It, and not apart from It. The expectation to see and the desire to get something are all the working of the ego. Be yourself and nothing more.

"The changeless infinite Self transcends time and space, which are relative to the body and the mind." ~ Truth Revealed (Sadvidya)

All will come right in the end.

A Self-realised being cannot help benefiting the world. His very existence is the highest good.

If the mind is turned inward God manifests as inner consciousness.

The Heart is not physical; it is spiritual. Hridayam = hrit + ayam - This is the centre. It is that from which thoughts arise, on which they subsist and where they are resolved.

Satisfaction can be only when you reach the Source. Otherwise restlessness remains.

The conception that there is a goal and a path to it, is wrong. We are the goal or peace always.

The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them.

Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to It.

The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are.

Forgetfulness of your real nature is true death;
remembrance of it is rebirth.

When you speak of a path, where are you now?

Guru is not the physical form. So the contact will remain even after the physical form of the Guru vanishes.

If the light of the sun is invisible to the owl, it is only quiry realize that the mind which remains at the end of the inquiry is Brahman."

There is no difference between the dream and the waking states except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result of the mind. Our real state, called turiya (fourth), is beyond the waking, dream and sleep states.

Regulation of life, such as getting up at a fixed hour, bathing, doing mantra, japa, observing ritual, all this is for people who do not feel drawn to self-enquiry or are not capable of it. But for those who can practise this method all rules and discipline are unnecessary.

Reality lies beyond the mind. So long as the mind functions, there is duality. Once it is transcended, Reality shines forth.

Birth and death pertain only to the body…they are superimposed on the Swe are free.

The fact of your existence is also your realization.

'I exist' is the only permanent self-evident experience of everyone.

Eventually, all that one has learnt will have to be forgotten.

Doesn't one find some kind of peace while in meditation? That is a sign of progress. That peace will become deeper and more prolonged with continued practice. It will also lead to the goal.

OAM NAMO BHAGAVATE SRI RAMANAYA

"Those who follow the path of inquiry realize that the mind which remains at theby this intense activity which is called 'silence' (mauna).

There is no help in changing your environment.The obstacle is the mind, which must be overcome, whether at home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home? Therefore, why change the environment?

Mind and breath have the same source. Hence breath is controlled when mind is controlled and mind when breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of the mind. Pranayama (breath control) is only an aid to subdue the mind and will not serve to kill it. Like pranayama, worship of a deity, japa (repetition) with a mantra, strict regulation of diet are all aids for mind control.


There is no greater mystery than this: Being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality.

.lf, giving rise to the delusion that birth and death relate to the Self. Discover the undying Self and be immortal and happy.

The highest form of grace is silence. It is also the highest
spiritual instruction. .. All other modes of instruction are derived
from silence and are therefore secondary. Silence is the primary
form. If the Guru is silent the seeker's mind gets purified by itself. Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 518.

Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be desYour duty is to Be, and not to be this or that.

To him who is one with the formless Self, everything is formless.

They say I am dying, but I am not going away. Where could I go? I am here.

Be as you already are.

"If mind-consciousness subsides into the source from which it arose, the experience of Being, absolute perfection, will unite with you here and now."

Christ is the ego. The Cross is the body.When the ego is crucified, and it perishes, what survives is the Absolute Being, and this glorious survival is called Resurrection. - Talks, November 6, 1935

All spiritual teachings are only meant to make us retrace our steps to our Original Source...We need not acquire anything new, only give up false ideas and useless accretions...Instead of doing this, we tr2That which is, is only Sat. That is called Brahman. The luster of Sat is chit and its nature is ananda. These are not different from Sat. And the three together are known as Sat-chit-ananda."

The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego. The ego, if sought, will vanish automatically. The ego and the mind are the same. The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.

What exists in truth is the Self alone.

Your duty is to Be, and not to be this or that.

To him who is one with the formless Self, everything is formless.

Thit must be ddying, but I athe truth is gained. This is clearly ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts. What you realize on the day you laugh is also here and now.

The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects perceived by the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can there be a world? ~ Forty Verses on Reality,verse 6

f one has form oneself, the world and God also will appear to have form, but if one is formless, who is it that sees those forms, and how? Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is y to grasp something strange and mysterious because we believe happiness lies elsewhere. This is the mistake.

Do not think too much of psychical phenomena and such things. Their number is legion; and once faith in the psychical thing is established in the heart of a seeker, such phenomena have done their work. Clairvoyance, clairaudience, and such things are not worth having, when so much far greater illumination and peace are possible without them than with them."

There is no greater mystery than this: Being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality. We think that there is something hiding Reality and that it must be destroyed before the truth is gained. This is clearly ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts. What you realize on the day you laugh is also here and now.

The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects perceived by the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can there be a world? ~ Forty Verses on Reality,verse 6

f one has form oneself, the world and God also will appear to have form, but if one is formless, who is it that sees those forms, and how? Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is the Eye of Infinity. ~ Forty Verses on Reality,verse 4

Abide as That in which there is no beginning or end, no top or bottom or middle, no holy place or god, no gifts or pious acts, no time or space, no objects of perception - and be always happy, free from all traces of thought. ~ The Heart of the Ribhu Gita

Reality is simply loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity.Because the ego has no real existence, it will automatically vanish, and Reality will shine forth by itself in all its glory. This is the direct method. All other methods retain the ego.

Without consciousness, time and space do not exist; they appear within Consciousness but have no reality of their own.

You speak as if you are here, and the Self is somewhere else and you had to go and reach it… …But in fact the Self is here and now, and you are always It. It is like being here and asking people the way to the ashram, then complaining that each one shows a different path and asking which to follow

Happiness is born of Peace and can reign only when there is no disturbance. Disturbance is due to thoughts, which arise in the mind. When the mind is absent there will be perfect Peace.

The world does not exist in sleep and forms a projection of your mind in the waking state. It is therefore an idea and nothing else.

"If you seek God with your whole Heart, then you may be assured that the Grace of God is also seeking you."

Place your burden at the feet of the Lord of the Universe who accomplishes everything. Remain all the time steadfast in the heart, in the Transcendental Absolute. God knows the past, present and future. He will determine the future for you and accomplish the work. What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don't worry. Abide in the heart and surrender your acts to the divine.

Your duty is to Be, and not be this or that. Let the world bother about its reality or falsehood. Find out first about your own reality. Then all things will become clear.

EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE DARSHAN

EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE DARSHAN

 

"Seeing Baba's picture earnestly is equivalent to seeing Him in person." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 33

 

There was once a saadhaka (spiritual seeker) who approached a guru for guidance. The guru gave him an idol of Vishnu and also necessary instructions for daily worship. But the saadhaka found that, even after some months of meticulous puja, he did not get any spiritual reward or elation. 

So, he reported his dissatisfaction and the guru gave him another idol, this time of Shiva and asked him to have another try. The disciple came after another six months demanding another idol, because even Shiva had failed him.

 

This time, he got a Ganesha idol, which he duly installed in his domestic shrine. The two previous idols were standing, dust-ridden and neglected, on the window-sill.

 

After a few months he was quite disgusted at the progress he made & went to the Guru again for the 4th time. This time the Guru gave him an idol of Durga and the Saadhaka said if this also doesn't work, he wouldn't bother the Guru again! 

One day, while performing Durga-puja, the disciple found that the perfumed smoke from the incense-stick was being wafted by the breeze towards the dusty idol of Shiva on the window-sill. He got wild that the ungrateful stonehearted Shiva who was deaf to his powerful prayers earlier should get the perfume intended for his latest idol that was Durga! 

So, he took a piece of cloth and tied it round the face of Shiva, closing up the nostrils that were inhaling the perfume and continued with his Durga puja.

Suddenly, to his immense surprise Lord Shiva appeared in all His splendor and Glory and stood before the saadhaka! The man was dumb-founded and stunned that in spite of the ill-treatment that he had given to Shiva, the Lord gave him darshan. 

So he asked Shiva, "When I was doing Durga puja, why are you giving me darshan and why didn't you come before me when I was worshiping you earlier?"

Lord Shiva answered, "My dear devotee, for the first time you believed that the Shiva idol was alive, conscious and full of life and it was that belief which forced you to tie the bandage around my nose! The moment you realized that the idol was full of consciousness you got the realization that you were struggling to get all along!"

Shiva continued, "Therefore, you should see, not the stone which is the material stuff of the idol, but the Power that is inherent in it, that is symbolized by it, is the same DIVINE Power that is inherent in your own heart and that pervades and transcends all creation. It's the same power in the whole UNIVERSE!!!"

"This time you believed the stone image to be God while earlier you used to bring God down to the level of a stone image! You may worship a picture as God, but you should not worship God as a picture!!! That's essentially the difference! Wood, stone or mud may be assumed to be Divine, but Divinity should not be limited to wood, stone or mud" concluded Shiva!"

 

GREATNESS OF NAMA JAPA

GREATNESS OF NAMA JAPA

 

Baba asked her in low and fascinating tone to chant 'Rajarama, Rajarama' then and always, and said - "If you do this, your life's object will be gained, your mind will attain peace and you will be immensely benefited."  Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 27

 

Birbal was a minister in the court of Akbar. Birbal, apart from his sharp intellect, was also a devotee of Sri Rama. Akbar had a special regard for Birbal. Akbar used to openly ask Birbal to clarify his impulsive - and very often strange doubts. Birbal never failed to give an immediate and a fitting reply to such questions. Wherever Akbar went, he used to take Birbal along with him. 

 

During one such instance, when they travelled for some official purpose, they had to take a route through a dense forest. In the course of the journey, both were totally exhausted and famished. So they decided to rest under the shade of a tree for a while before continuing their journey. Since Akbar was very hungry, he wanted to look around the place to see if he can find a house to get some food. He induced Birbal to follow suit. But Birbal who was in the midst of Rama Nama Japam (Repetition of Rama Nama), turned down Akbar's request. 

Akbar said to Birbal, 'Mere chanting of the names of the Lord would not fetch you food. You have to put in your efforts.... You cannot achieve anything without self effort...' 
Akbar left Birbal in the pursuit of pacifying his belly. In a little while he spotted a house. The inmates of the house were overjoyed to see their King coming to their very doorstep for food. They treated him to the best of their capacity. 

Akbar finished his meal and took a little food for Birbal too and left the house to meet Birbal. He met Birbal and gave him the food. 

'See Birbal, I told you... I took some efforts for the food and I got it. You were just sitting and chanting Rama Nama , and you did not get any food.' 

Birbal ignored his scoffing and partook the food given by Akbar. After he finished the meal, he looked up at Akbar and said, 

'I have just now experienced the power of Rama nama, like never before. You are the ruler of the land. But today even the King had to beg for food. But you look at me. I was just chanting Rama Nama here and the Rama Nama made the king himself to get me food, that too by begging. So I got the food, just by sitting here and chanting Rama nama without any other special efforts. Such is the power of Rama Nama!!'

CREATION PERFECTION

CREATION PERFECTION

 

"God has created this beautiful world and it is our duty to appreciate its beauty." Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  49.

 

A cosmic god had a horse. The horse was beautiful and also it had many good qualities. But it wanted to be more perfect in every way. It especially wanted to become beauty unparalleled.

 

One day the horse said to the cosmic god, "0 Lord, you have given me beauty. You have given me other good qualities. I am so grateful to you. But now I wish you could make me more beautiful. I would be extremely, extremely grateful if you could make me more beautiful."

 

The cosmic god said, "I am more than ready to make you more beautiful. Tell me in what way you want to be changed."

 

The horse said, "It seems to me that I am not well proportioned. My neck is too short. If you can make my neck a little longer, my upper body will be infinitely more beautiful. And if you can make my legs much longer and thinner, then I will look infinitely more beautiful in my lower body."

 

The cosmic god said, "Let it so happen!" Then immediately he made a camel appear in place of the horse. The horse was so disheartened that it started to cry, "0 Lord, I wanted to become more beautiful. In what way is this kind of outer form more beautiful?"

 

The cosmic god said, "This is exactly what you asked for. You have become a camel."

The horse cried, "Oh no, I do not want to become a camel, I wish to remain a horse. As a horse, everybody appreciated my good qualities. Nobody will appreciate me as a camel."

 

The cosmic god said, "Never try to achieve or receive more than I have given you. If you want to lead a desire filled-life, then at every moment you will want more and more. But you have no idea what the outcome will be. If you cry for a longer neck and legs, this is what will happen. Each thing in my creation has its own good qualities. The camel is not as beautiful as you are, but it carries heavy loads and has a tremendous sense of responsibility!"

 

 

Every creation is perfect by itself and created for different purpose. When God is the perfect creator of this universe, would it not be expected that perfection follows from perfection? If God is– omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent, would it not be corollary that whatever proceeds from this perfect being would also be perfect itself? It is foolish to compare one creation to another, as it would only create more jealousy or more ego with the other, all leading to sorrow and disappointments in the end.

 

We should be content with what we have and rejoice in the way things are. When we realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to us. When we are content to be simply ourselves and not compare or compete, everybody will respect us.

 

Until we make peace with who we are, we'll never be contented with what we have.  We have to learn to appreciate what God has given us and make the best use of it.

 

Be happy with what you have and are, be generous, and you won't have to hunt for happiness.

 

For Fitness to Truth - Witness with Eyes

FOR FITNESS TO TRUTH – WITNESS WITH EYES

 

Baba said, "Why ask others? Everything we should see with our own eyes; where is the necessity to question others?" Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  28

 

A thief hired a room at an inn and stayed there at night. The next morning when he looked out of his window he saw the owner of the inn sitting in the courtyard. The man was wearing an expensive new coat which the thief decided would look good on himself.

 

Accordingly he went out and sitting beside the innkeeper, struck up a conversation with him. Presently he yawned and then to the innkeeper's astonishment, howled like a wolf.

 

"Why did you do that?" asked the innkeeper.

 

"I have no control over it," said the thief. "If I yawn three times I actually turn into a wolf. Please don't leave me. I'm frightened!"

 

And with that he yawned again and let out another howl. The innkeeper turned pale and got up to go but the thief caught hold of his coat and begged him to stay. Even as he pleaded, he yawned again.

 

The terrified innkeeper wriggled out of the coat to which the thief was tightly holding on and ran into the inn and locked himself in.

 

The thief calmly put on the coat and walked away.

 

Don't believe to every tale you hear, whether it is good or bad or whether it's about someone or even about you. Every tale heard from others need not be true. In other words, gossip is like the smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

 

In our appetite for gossip, we tend to gobble down everything before us, only to find, too late, that it is our ideals we have consumed, and we have not been enlarged by the feasts but only diminished.

 

Be alert to the power of discrimination and just be like an elephant which knows to separate good water from the bad and consume only the good. Take only what is needed for your own improvement and discard the rest!

 

What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.

 

PERCEPTION OF MIND

"We always see the phenomena, i.e. things as they outwardly appear, and not the Noumenon which underlies all the visible things." – Sri Sai Satcharitra Ch. 26.

 

A man was given capital punishment for his crime. Some scientists went to him and said," You will be hanged to death on so and so date, is that true?" He replied that it was true and that there was no way he could be saved. Then the scientists asked him if he could give his body for experimentation before his death for the welfare of mankind. That man agreed. The scientists took written permission to perform this experiment from the court.

 

The scientists, the psychiatrists and the doctors came all equipped the day the man was to be hanged. They started their experiment. They told the man that anyway he has to die, so instead of getting hanged he would die of snakebite. They said that they have to find out how the poison spreads in the body and how a man dies after snakebite. They convinced him that they wanted to explore about the remedy to cure man of snake poison.

 

They asked the man if this was ok with him. He gave his consent for the whole procedure. The scientists gave a life demonstration of death of a horse due to snakebite. A few minutes after the snake bit the horse, it fell down. A few seconds thereafter it trembled and died.

 

The scientists then told the man that this procedure will be followed for him and this is how his final journey shall be.

 

The man's eyes were covered with a black band and upper half of body was covered with a veil so that he could not see anything. Now he was notified that in another two minutes the snake would bite him.

 

They used a rat instead of snake for the whole procedure, but the man was told that the snake had bitten him and that he was about to die. Scientists knew that it was a rat but the criminal assumed that a snake had bitten him. His mind was convinced that a snake had bitten him, and therefore he had a strong belief that he would die in the same manner as the horse.

 

As soon as the rat bit him, the internal power of his mind produced trembling in his body. The man trembled in the same way as the horse had done and died.

 

Scientists investigated his blood and found snake poison there when actually no snake had bitten him. He died because he was meditating on the fact that he will die of snakebite!

 

Thus, the mind has strong influence on the body. This is called Mental Influence. Scientists could understand that mind influences the body, but they were surprised finding snake poison in the criminal's blood, when actually snake had not bitten him. Where did it come from? They drew the inference that mind has so much power that it can even produce poison!

 

It is due to the influence of mind that we start trembling by visualising a tree to be a thief in the dark or by assuming a rope to be a snake. But in reality if we assume an actual snake to be a rope, we pass by keeping our foot over its head confidently.

 

The state of mind has strong influence over your body and your behaviour.

 

Therefore, it doesn't matter how many obstacles or how many road blocks hit your way, do not let the sincerity of mind get lost, because it is the mind which will enable us realise & attain the victory.

INSEPARABLE LOVE BOND

 

INSEPARABLE LOVE BOND

 

"We should have unbroken and unbounded love. How can we praise love? Everything is insignificant before it." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  43

 

Two brothers worked together on a farming field passed on from their parents. The one, the older brother, had married and have quite a big family. The younger brother was still single, and planned not to get married. When the harvesting seasons come, they always divide the harvest between them equally and fair. Always it has been like that. 

 

On one day, the younger brother who was still single thought about it, "It is not fair if we divide the harvest equally. I am still single and my necessity is not that much".

 

So, for the sake of his older brother, every night he would take a sack of his grain and secretly put it to his brother's granary., thinking that a sack a day might be enough to reduce his older brother's burden and his family.

 

At the same time, the married brother was also worried and concerned about his brother. He thought, "It is not fair if we always divide the harvest equally. I have a wife and children who will be able to take care of me later when I grow old. While my brother, he doesn't have anybody, nobody would care for him if he grows old and poor. He deserves to get more than me."

 

Therefore, every night, he too, secretly move a sack of grain from his granary to his younger brother's granary, wishing that at least a sack a day would aid his brother, later in the coming future.

 

So it went on for years that they kept moving a sack of their grain to the other's while keeping it as secret between them, and the amount of grain sack in the granary seems to be unchanged. Until one night they meet each other when carrying out their daily secret plot.

 

At that time, they realized what has been going on, and cried hugging each other. They knew, in silence, that there is a very deep love that has been nourishing their brotherhood!

 

 

 

When one lives in the spirit of true brotherhood, wealth and treasures becomes the glue of love and not the destroyer of love that is how it is.

 

Mankind constitutes one great brotherhood; and all are born to encounter suffering and sorrow, and therefore bound to sympathize with each other. Why is this universal spirit of living for each other forgotten? 

 

Let us try our best not to lose these precious values of brotherhood and let us love one and all with the same love as we love ourselves!

 

 

 

Lord's Will Will Be Done

Baba said, "His will will be done and He will show us the way, and satisfy our heart's desires" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 18, 19.

 

Buddhuram was an unsophisticated farmer in a small village in Gujarat. He doesn't know anything. He could not read or write. One day Buddhuram went home after tendering the calves and his wife was just complaining and shouting at him.

 

Buddhuram's wife always regretted marrying him. She said, "After all his name is Buddhuram and on top of that he has no buddhi. He is a highly silly man and only knows how to take care of his cows. But my other friends in my village, they always come back and tell me, "my husband did this", "my husband achieved that", "my husband got a new bullock cart" and I look at my dear husband, he is very satisfied in chanting the names of Krishna, taking the cows around, coming back for kitchadi and waking up in the morning, taking the cows out and doing chanting. No ambition." So she decided to upgrade her husband. She told her husband that from next day onwards there is no kitchadi for him. Buddhuram asked what he did. She told him to learn Sanskrit and to learn how to compose a poem. Buddhuram said he doesn't know what a poem is; he doesn't know what Sanskrit is. He told he is becoming very afraid and there is no kitchadi on top of that!

 

She told, "Just last week our neighbour went to recite poetry in front of the king and came back with 10 gold coins. What have you come back with? Nothing." So Buddharam said, "Alright whatever you want me to do I will do." So he tolerated his wife. The wife started to teach him Sanskrit in the morning. But Buddhuram has no buddhi and after a while nothing goes inside. He only knows to chant, to pray to Krishna and to take care of the cows. Totally unsophisticated. Then the wife tells him, "No kitchadi until you study. Put your head into it."

 

Now Buddhuram becomes very depressed. No kitchadi is there, wife is more demanding, life is miserable. So he started walking along the banks of the river. As he was walking up and down he thought, "Better I start learning how to write Sanskrit so that I can compose poetry." So he writes and writes and writes.

 

Suddenly one learned scholar walked by. He looked at Buddhuram and asked, "My dear friend what are you writing?" He said, "I am learning Sanskrit so that I can compose poetry."

 

The scholar laughed. He said, "You are a fool. The truth is no matter how much you know Sanskrit, you cannot write poetry."

 

Buddhuram asked, "Why?"

 

The scholar said, "If you want to write poetry, you need inspiration."

 

Buddhuram asked, "How will I know when inspiration comes to me?"

 

The scholar said, "It is very simple. When you are inspired, the hairs on your hand stand straight. You will start shaking and shivering. When you feel that sensation, then you are inspired. At that point you compose poetry and then the poetry will be perfect."

 

Buddhuram thought that this is very amazing. He told, "I will wait until the hair stands and I am shaking, then I will write poetry." So the scholar walked away.

 

Again Buddhuram went back, tried to recite the poetry, tried to recite Sanskrit, but the wife was not happy, sent him out and said 'no kitchadi'. So Buddhuram went to the river. He decides, "Better I end my life, Krishna. There is no point to go on like this." So he jumped into the river. Unfortunately the river was too shallow to kill himself. It was only half. The river is very cold. Buddhuram starts shivering and the hairs on his body stands because of the cold water. He says, "The hairs on my body are standing and I am feeling extremely shivering, that means I am inspired." He looks around for a pen and some subject of his poetry and he sees a crow. Its name is Kalia. He looks at the crow. What does the crow do? The crow is dipping its beak into the water again and again and it is sharpening the beak on the stone. So Buddhuram writes, "Oh Kalia, I can read your mind, you sharpen it again and again and you dip it in water. Oh Kalia I can read your mind." So Buddhuram runs back to his wife and says, "I have composed poetry." She asked him to recite the poetry. He recited the poetry. But she could not understand anything. She told, "It doesn't sound like poetry, but my dear Lord, I leave it in your good hands. You take the horse and go now and see the king."

 

Buddhuram rides and goes to see the king. When he reached the king, all the great poets were reciting wonderful poems. Buddhuram has little faith in Krishna. He is a simple man, he prays hard and says, "Krishna I don't know what I have been inspired by, I don't know what poetry I have, but I am just putting it forward now, You please help me." Now Buddharam's turn came. He started reciting the poem. "Oh Kalia I can read your mind. You sharpen it again and again and you dip it in water. Oh Kalia I can read your mind."

 

Everybody starts laughing. They all said it is a ridiculous poem and it is not rhyming, there is no poetry and there is nothing in it. But the king thinks, "Who will be so stupid to come and stand before me and recite such nonsense. There must be some deep meaning to this poetry." Now we don't know who is more foolish, Buddhuram or king. The king stops everyone from laughing and said, "I want someone who can tell me the deeper meaning of this poem." Buddhuram has no idea, what the poem meant. He is only depending on the good Lord so that he can go home and have kitchadi. Now everybody stops laughing and thinks if the king says that there is a deep meaning, then there has to be a deep meaning. King said, "I am going to put out the poem for the whole town to look at. The one who can decipher it, he will get 50 gold coins." Everybody tries but nobody can decipher it because there is no meaning to that poetry. The king is wondering who will be able to decipher this great poet's poem which is so deep.

 

One day the king sits down and his barber is coming. The barber is shapening his knife. Barber's name is Kalia. So king looks at Kalia in an absent-minded way, he says, "Oh Kalia, I can read your mind. (Kalia starts sweating). You sharpen it again and again and you dip it in water. Oh Kalia, I can read your mind." Now Kalia drops everything and falls at the feet of the king and said, "O King, I never knew that you knew everything. King is completely bewildered. He says, "King I have betrayed you. Your enemy state has paid me to slit your throat today and kill so that they will take over the kingdom. But my dear king, I realised that you are so great that you say Kalia I can read your mind. And you exactly said that I am sharpening it again and again and I was dipping it again and again and then you said I can read your mind. Now my dear king I have to surrender to you."

 

Immediately king thought that this Buddhuram is the greatest among the poets and he can see the future also. "I must give much more rewards because he has saved my life just by reciting the poem. His poem was designed to save me at the right time."

 

Buddhuram has no idea about his poem. Buddhuram goes back to his village with money.

TO GIVE OR TO RECEIVE

TO GIVE OR TO RECEIVE

 

"Generally, all people like wit and humour, but they do not like that jokes should be cut at their expense. But Baba's method was peculiar; when it was accompained with gestures, it was very interesting and instructive" – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  24

 

A young man, a student in one of the universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.

As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which were supposed to belong to a poor man who was working in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work . . .

Student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them ..."

"My dear young friend," answered the professor, "We should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor . . . But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man. Put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how this affects him."

 

The student did so and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes . . .

While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, but feeling something hard, he bent down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance.

He gazed upon the coin, turned it around and looked at it again and again.

He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin . . .

His feelings overcame him . . . he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom this timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing . . .

The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears.

"Now," said the professor, are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"

The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. .. I feel now the truth of these words, which I never understood before: "It's more blessed to give than to receive."

 

DROP YOUR LUGGAGE HERE

DROP YOUR LUGGAGE HERE

 

Baba said, "The inevitable Maya teases me often. Though I forgot Myself I cannot forget Her. She always envelops Me" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 13.

 

A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was invited to the party. 

 

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble. Would he dare? 

 

He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. "Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king."

 

"Wait here," the guard replied. In a few minutes, he was back. "His majesty will see you," he said, and led the beggar in.

 

"You wish to see me?" asked the king.

 

"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?"

 

The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the king's face. "You have been wise in coming to me," the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. "Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes."

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared hope for.

 

"You are now eligible to attend the king's banquet tomorrow night," said the prince. "But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last forever."

 

The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank you," he cried. But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old clothes again. Quickly he gathered them up. 

 

The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he should. He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies. 

 

Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags. One day as he lay dying, the king visited him.

 

The beggar saw the sad look on the king's face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince's words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his folly. 

 

 

When we put our faith in God, we must let go of our worries, our past sins and our old ways of living. When we turn on a new leaf at any point of our lives, forgetting the past and letting go our old habits and thoughts is important. We can let go only if we have complete trust in the Lord that HE would be with us in our new journey and take us to our destination.

 

Our journey of life would be enjoyable if the unnecessary luggage's of the past we carry in our minds are minimal.

 

Why fear, when God is near?