OUR LIFE A PIECE OF CAKE

OUR LIFE A PIECE OF CAKE

 

"It is impossible to describe all His ways and methods." – Sri Saisatcharitra, Ch. 18, 19.

 

A little boy was telling his Grandma how everything in his life and this world was going wrong. School, family problems, severe health problems, etc.

Meanwhile, his Grandma was baking a cake. She asked her grandson if he would like a snack, which ofcourse he said he would.

"Here, have some cooking oil."- told the Grandma.

"Yuck" said the boy.

"How about a couple of raw eggs?"

"Gross, Grandma"

"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"

"Grandma, those are all yucky!"

Grandma replied: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake."

God works the same way. Sometimes, don't we wonder "What did I do to deserve this", or "Why did God have to do this to me". Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times.

But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for the good. We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful.

God loves us so much. He sends us flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever we want to talk, He listens. He can live anywhere in the universe, but He chose our hearts. So Believe Completely that He loves us and whatever is happening is only the process of baking a cake......to finally make it into a delicious cake and just like beating gold to make a beautiful ornament out of it.

So next time, you face any hiccups, instead of complaining, think of the entire picture and view life as a whole and reflect on why such an experience was given to you and what is to be learnt from it for your own personal evolution and keep moving on with life.

Life as a whole is just like this piece of cake –  Hope your day is a "piece of cake."

 

SEEK IN SILENCE

SEEK IN SILENCE

 

"When the mind is concentrated, the goal will be achieved." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, 18, 19

 

 

Once, Emperor Akbar was sitting in a mosque, reading the Koran. He posted his guards before the mosque because he wanted absolute peace. At some point during his reading he glanced out the window and saw a young woman running desperately back and forth. She seemed to be looking for someone or something.

Suddenly, this young woman entered the mosque and began to search. In her desperation to find whatever she was looking for, she did not see the emperor and tripped over him as he sat, bumping him so hard that the Koran flew out of his hands and landed on the floor.

Akbar was so disturbed that he called for his guards: "Bring me that young woman!"

When the guards brought the woman before him, Akbar was furious: "Before I have you hanged, tell me what you were so preoccupied with that you did not even notice when you ran over me."

The woman shook with fear to hear her death sentence. But then she collected herself and said: "My dear emperor, please excuse me, but I was searching for my lover. I had heard that he had come to town, and because I love him, I was so fixed on finding him that I was looking everywhere without seeing anyone or anything else. I did not mean to offend you."

This made Akbar even angrier: "How dare you disturb me while I am reading the holy Koran. Looking for a lover. Hang her immediately."

Since she had nothing left to lose, the young woman spoke out: "Dear emperor, may I ask you whether you were actually reading the Koran? If I am so attentive to searching for my lover—who is, after all, merely a mortal man—that I cannot see anything or anyone else, how much more fixed would you be if you were actually searching for the supreme lover, God? If you had actually been reading the Koran, you would not have noticed my tripping over you. So I think you were not actually reading but were only making a show of it."

Akbar saw the woman's point and set her free.

DOUBTING THOMAS

DOUBTING THOMAS

 

"Do not be deluded by worldly honor." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 6.

 

Once upon a time a man couldn't find his axe. He suspected his neighbor's son because the boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. The following morning the man found his axe when he remembered where he left it. The next time he saw his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any other child.

This ancient tale by Lao-tzu portrays in five acts the cause and resolution of all conflicts or differences of opinions and false assumptions—whether in a family, between neighbors, friends, or among nations.

Act one: an external change occurs.

Act two: we become unhappy about the change, and we quickly find someone or something to blame.

Act three: our unhappiness colors our perceptions and we misidentify "the enemy."

Act four: the external cause of our unhappiness is removed.

Act five: our perception clears up and we see things as they simply are. Unfortunately, very few people get to the fifth act.

Once we have identified "the enemy", the ego builds a formidable rationalization process to ensure that we always feel that way towards that person or event.

Why is it so hard to admit we were wrong, or to apologize to someone? Because we have invested so much energy in building our self-righteous facade, and the ego will do virtually anything to maintain consistency to keep us away from the Truth—that only God is real, everything else is but His dream.

Therefore the main trick of the ego is to give the illusion of permanency to the transient phenomena of nature. As the saying goes, "If you tell a lie enough times, it becomes accepted as truth, and, the bigger the lie, the more likely it is to be accepted."

GROWTH IS THE WAY OF LIFE

GROWTH IS THE WAY OF LIFE

 

"That all our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  21.

 

There is a small green island where one white cow lives alone, a meadow of an island.

The cow grazes until nightfall, full and fat, but during the night she panics and grows thin as a single hair. "What will I eat tomorrow? There's nothing left!"

By dawn the grass has grown up again, waist-high. The cow starts eating and by dark the meadow is clipped short.

She is full of strength and energy, but she panics in the dark as before and grows abnormally thin overnight.

The cow does this over and over and this is all she does.

She never thinks, "This meadow has never failed to grow back.  What should I be afraid
every night that it won't?"

The cow is the bodily soul.

The island field is this world where that grows lean with fear and fat with blessing, lean and fat. 

 

White cow, don't make yourself miserable with what is to come or not to come.

 

 

IT IS TRUE IN THE WORLD

IT IS TRUE IN THE WORLD

 

"Thinks that he is the doer and enjoyer and thus entangles himself in endless miseries and does not know the way of deliverance." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 23.

 

Hot sun... Salty air... Rhythmic waves.... A little boy is on his knees scooping and packing the sand with plastic shovels into a bright blue bucket.

Then he up-ends the bucket on the surface and lifts it. To the delight of the little architect, a castle tower is created. All afternoon he will work. Spooning out the moat. Packing the walls. Bottle tops will be sentries. Popsicle sticks will be bridges. A sandcastle will be built!

Big city.... Busy streets.... Rumbling traffic.... A man is in his office. At his desk he shuffles papers into stacks and delegates assignments. He cradles the phone on his shoulder and punches the keyboard with his fingers.

Numbers are juggled and contracts are signed and much to the delight of the man, a profit is made. All his life he will work. Formulating the plans. Forecasting the future. Annuities will be sentries. Capital gains will be bridges. An empire will be built!

Two builders of two castles. They have much in common. They shape granules into grandeurs. They see nothing and make something. They are diligent and determined.
And for both the tide will rise and the end will come.

Yet that is where the similarities cease.

The little boy sees the end while the man ignores it.

Watch the boy as the dusk approaches. As the waves near, the wise child jumps to his feet and begins to clap. There is no sorrow. No fear. No regret. He knew this would happen. He is not surprised. And when the great breaker crashes into his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea, he smiles. He smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father's hand, and goes home.

The grownup, however, is not so wise. As the wave of years collapses on his castle he is terrified. He hovers over the sandy monument to protect it. He blocks the waves from the walls he has made. Salt-water soaked and shivering he snarls at the incoming tide. "It's my castle," he defies. The ocean need not respond. Both know to whom the sand belongs.

We don't know much about sandcastles. But children do. Watch them and learn. Go ahead and build, but build with a child's heart. When the sun sets and the tides take - applaud. Salute the process of life and go home.

"Everything that is, was, and will be, eternally is, even the countless forms, which are finite and perishable only in their objective, not in their ideal Form."

Hold on to that which is imperishable and do not cry over the perishable.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

 

"Don't be afraid, don't care a jot, the Merciful Fakir will save you." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  23

 

 

A young student at a Zen monastery comes to his master and throws himself at his feet, sobbing. The teacher lifts him up gently, and asks him, "What is troubling you, my son?"

 

"O master," the student falters, "I am so discouraged. My meditation is a nightmare—my mind is always running after worldly thoughts, my legs ache, I'm constantly falling asleep… I cannot concentrate on anything for even a breath. I think that I am just not cut out for meditation."

The master pats his head and comforts him "Do not worry, my child. This is only a stage. It will pass, it will pass." The student heaves a big sigh, bows to his master, and goes back to the meditation hall.

A few days later, he comes running to his master, grinning from ear to ear. "O master, by your grace, my meditation is completely transformed now. I'm getting so much joy, so much peace, so much depth…"

The master responds calmly, "Do not worry, my son. It will pass."

The secret to successful living is to not get attached to anything. In this world, we are to "become passers-by," said Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, Logion 42. Thank God for whatever comes, for it is His gift, whether people call it `good' or `bad'. "In praise and blame, I remain the same" goes the traditional saying; or as Lord Buddha declared, aniccha aniccha—"Everything arises and passes away."

A FIRE WITHIN

A FIRE WITHIN

 

"The guide will take you straight to your destination." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 2.

 

There was a man who was rich beyond measure. His house was vast, but had only one door. One day a fire broke out in the house, and quickly spread through its rooms. The man had many children-twenty, thirty, or even forty-who were playing in one of the rooms. They were quite unaware of the fire.

 

The man ran to the room where the children were playing, told them about the fire, an urge them to leave at once. But they were so engrossed in their games that they did not listen to him. He told them that, unless they left quickly, they would be burn to death by the fire. This time they listened to him; but since they did not understand what a fire was, they i not take him seriously.

 

Then the father said: "In the garden outside the house there are many new toys, which are rare and hard to find.  For example, there are toy carts on which you can ride. I suggest you go and play with these new toys.' The children were excited by the prospect of having new toys; so they ran out of the house, and their lives were saved.

 

In this parable the father represents an enlightened teacher, and the children represent ordinary human beings.

YOUR EYES AREN’T GOOD JUDGE

YOUR EYES AREN'T GOOD JUDGE

 

"These outward signs should never be our standards to judge the worth." -  Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 49

 

Before India gained independence, a few young men from the villages wanted to free India from the foreign yoke; they wanted the British to quit India. They needed material wealth to throw the British out of India, so they started collecting money in the Indian villages.

One day, they got inspired to collect material things as well. They went from door to door carrying a huge bag, which gradually was filled with money and gifts. As they went, a one-legged beggar kept following them. The young men did not mind.

At the end of the day, they entered into a house to see what they had collected. The beggar also wanted to enter, but since he was not a member of the group, they did not allow him in. The beggar pleaded with them: "I walked such a long distance right behind you. You want freedom; I also want freedom. Our Motherland is not only your property. It is also my property."

At first, the young men got mad and told the beggar to go away. Then one of the men felt sorry for him, so they decided to show him the things they had collected. While the beggar was looking at the gifts in their bag, most of them were showing him real contempt. Then suddenly the beggar opened up the bag that he had been carrying. It contained a few coins and some rice. He spontaneously and humbly threw all the contents into their bag and quietly walked away without uttering a word to any of their insults.

Immediately all the members of the revolutionary group started shedding tears of gratitude, because he had given all that he had to their cause. On that day, they had gone to visit so many rich families, who had given them next to nothing; but this beggar had given them everything that he had. They were deeply moved by the beggar's contribution!! What a great Sacrifice it was and how humble he had been to their misgivings and insults. They felt ashamed by their own act of judgment and lack of humility and regretted it deeply.

PERFECTION AT ITS BEST?

PERFECTION  AT  ITS  BEST?

 

"But at the same time how difficult it is to put it into practice!" Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 45.

 

A Man wanted to have a beautiful cradle made for his soon-to-be born first child. When he inquired who was the best carpenter in town, everyone agreed that there was only one—a real perfectionist.

The father went to this carpenter and explained, "My wife is due to give birth in two months and I would like to order a really nice cradle from you. I heard you were one of the best carpenters."

The carpenter puffed up with pride and said, "Yes, I must say, you will have not just a cradle, you'll have a dream cradle, one that has never been seen before!"

The father was highly excited.

"Wonderful! When will it be ready?"

"Come next week."

The father returned the next week hoping to see the miracle of carpentry.

"Ah, yes, the cradle," said the carpenter as he delicately sanded a beautiful box. "Well, it's not quite ready. It's got to be perfect before I hand it over to you."

"All right. When shall I come back? Tomorrow?"

"Give me another week. I want to do a really good job, you know."

The father returned the next week.

"I'm still not really happy with my work," the carpenter said. "Give me another week. I want to really make the best possible cradle."

Every week the father returned and there was always an excuse why the cradle was not ready. Eventually the child was born, and the father went and bought a cradle somewhere else. His child grew up, became an adult, married, and his wife became pregnant. The old dad reminisced, "You know, I once ordered a cradle for you. Maybe it's ready by now. Why don't you go see the carpenter and ask him. I was told that he's really good."

The son went to see the old carpenter.

"My father had placed an order for a cradle for me when I was a baby, and we were wondering if… it was ready?"

The carpenter looked up from his work bench and gripped his chisel with white knuckles.

"Listen, my boy," he pointed the chisel at the young man's chest. "I do the best work! I don't deliver shoddy goods. And I'm not going to have you or your father push me around. Clear?"

The son realized he was talking to a fool, and went and bought a cradle from another place.


Perfectionism can also become a big obstacle in our spiritual life. I am sitting down for my meditation, when I notice that the pictures on the altar are a little crooked. As I tidy them up, I see a bit of dust that needs to be sponged off. "And while I am up, I might as well vacuum my prayer rug. Humm, this rug is bit mangy. Let me go and buy a nice new one. Well, this new rug is too big for the room— I will just make the living room my meditation room. Now where do I entertain my friends? I will have to find a new house.

Boy, this new neighborhood is really noisy. Maybe it is time to settle in the countryside, and I can build my own temple in the garden. And then I can really start meditating..."

Yes, we can be perfectionist in our dedication to reaching our highest potential—after all, our ego would be only too happy to have us give up or get sloppy. But divine perfectionism is always balanced with surrender. We do the very best we can, and let God decide the outcome.

ENTERING THE WORLD OF FRAGRANCE

ENTERING THE WORLD OF FRAGRANCE

 

Baba said, "You do away, destroy the Teli's wall (sense of difference) between us, so that we can see and meet each other face to face". Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 35.

 

There was a very close friendship between a bumble bee and a worm. Once Bee said to Worm, ''Why do you live in muck and faeces? Come to my garden. There are roses and jasmines. You'll be thrilled by their fragrance.'' Worm gave it serious thought, ''I'll go and visit his garden, but what if there's nothing to eat there? I may starve to death.'' As a precaution he rolled up two small balls of dirt and faeces and plugged them into his nostrills. Bumble Bee, unaware of this, asked him to climb onto his back. Off they flew. In the garden the air was sweet with fragrance. The bee placed the worm on top of a rose and asked, ''Well, what do you think of the fragrance?''

 

''Nothing special. I still smell the same old odour,'' the worm retorted, not impressed at all.

Bee was confused, ''Why does my friend fail to enjoy the fragrance?'' he asked himself. Then he took a closer look at the worm and found two tiny balls of faces fitted up his nostrils.

He made a plan for removing them. Taking the worm to a pool of water, he offered him the chance to swim. They both dived into the water. Bee then climbed upon the worm's back and pushed his head under water. Water rushed into the worm's nose and mouth and made him burst out with violent sneezing. This procedure forced out the mess that was blocking Worm's nose. Quickly picking up the worm the bee returned to the rose, ''Ah... Ah... what ascent! It's fabulous... The scent of rose is wonderful.''

The worm praised the flowers no end. ''The fragrance was always here, but it was you who chose not to enjoy it. You had stuffed your nose with muck and excreta.'' Bee scolded his friend and then took him to savour the scents of other flowers in the garden.


This is what happens when people come to sit in the spiritual assemblies or come to serve the Enlightened Sadhu for wisdom. They come to the divine atmosphere fragrant with the goodness of God, but have secretly filled their hearts with filth and desires of the world. Therefore, even while sitting in spiritual discourses, they smell the odour of the world. It is when the Enlightened Sadhu splashes him in the ocean of wisdom and cleanses him of this world's mess that he enjoys the happiness of God.

NEVER TRUST YOUR EYES

NEVER TRUST YOUR EYES

 

Baba said, "Loving each other at first, but later on, they became enemies." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.  47.

 

The village nestled in the dense African jungle. Life was slow and leisurely and very little changed from day to day, year to year. There were two people who exemplified the harmony of the village. They had been best friends for forty years and lived in two houses on the opposite side of the central street. These friends had never quarreled. All their lives, they loved the same songs, the same food, the same hobbies.

The village also had a notorious trickster who was determined to make them fight. He pondered for a long time how to make them disagree with each other. It was going to be a difficult task because they saw everything the same way.

After many hours of thought, he devised a devilish plan. He made a coat that was different on each side. On one side it was blue, on the other it was red. He walked one way down the street wearing the coat every day. At the end of the road he took off the coat and hid it in a bag. Later he made his way, with coat hidden, back to his house.

After a few days he left the coat at home and went to the first neighbor: "Did you see a strange man come by here wearing a strange coat?"

"Yes, actually I did," said the man. "He passed by for several days and I was wondering why."

The trickster, who had only exposed the blue side of his coat to the man, said, "Yes. And wasn't it an awful garish red he was wearing?"

"Red? No. It was blue."

"No, no. Your eyes should be fixed. He was wearing red. You should ask your neighbor across the road."

The other friend was only exposed to the red side of the coat, so of course when the first neighbor asked him what was the color of the strange man's coat, the neighbor replied that it was red.

"No, said the first friend. "It was blue."

The two friends had never disagreed before. Not in all their forty years. The sensation was new and it frightened them. Something was wrong with the universe. They always agreed with each other about everything. It was part of how they always knew they were right. Now, each friend thought the other was crazy. Each friend wanted desperately for the other man to agree with him. They had relied on each other to agree about everything their whole lives. Not agreeing with each other was scary. Soon their fear became anger. The men began hitting each other. Hitting became wrestling, right in the middle of the main street of town.

"The coat was red!" shouted one.

"It was blue!" shouted the other.

"No, no. Your eyes should be fixed. He was wearing red."

"I have witnesses. My family saw it. He was wearing blue."

"Nonsense. He was wearing red." And on, and on.

The trickster's plan was successful. He had made the two friends see the same event differently. And they had fought. Soon folks in the village who had not seen the man in the coat were taking sides, and they too were fighting. Only the trickster knew the truth ­ that they were each half-right.

This African wisdom tale illustrates how human arrogance caused this tragedy. The two friends could never have imagined that both were, in fact, correct. We always think that our perception is the truth, which leaves no room for anyone else's truth.

But Truth, which is God, is beyond duality. Truth is paradoxical to the unawakened mind, because it holds opposite ideas simultaneously.

 

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love."

-Mother Teresa

A NAIL IN A WALL

A NAIL IN A WALL

 

Baba said, "If there be even a little trace of greed in mind, all the Sadhanas (spiritual endeavors) are of no avail." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 16, 17.

 

Mullah Nasruddin was a local priest (mullah means priest in Arabic) in a small village and was always living in extreme poverty. He was a very mysterious character, probably born in Turkey. No one knew whether he was a madman or a sage because his ways were so unconventional. His mind was so engaged in spiritual pursuits that he never took time to think about his material comfort. The debts accumulated and his credit quickly vanished until eventually he had no alternative but to sell his ancestral home.

Nasruddin's neighbor was a crooked man with a large, bushy moustache and he knew about his financial difficulties. He thought he could take advantage of the situation. "I want to help you, good neighbor. I will buy the house from you, even though I don't really have any interest in it." The man offered a pitiful price.

Mullah Nasruddin looked delighted and drew a small piece of paper from the folds of his clothing. "God bless you with long life and healthy progeny for this generous gesture! The house shall be yours, as soon as we take care of this little clause in the contract."

"What clause?" asked the neighbor, suspiciously.

"Only a very small thing. This house was built by my father."

"A fine gentleman he was. Always paid in cash."

"And you see here on the wall of the living room — there is one nail sticking out. My father never had the chance to finish hammering it in. He had a heart attack and died."

"God rests his soul!" The neighbor looked as contrite as he could.

"I therefore request that I be allowed to keep ownership of that nail, and do whatever I want with it."

The neighbor agreed but explained that he would have to consult his wife before signing.

His wife raised some serious objections. "Why is he going to keep a nail? What does it mean?"

"He just wants to be allowed to keep and `worship' his nail from time to time. That's all."

"He is crazy!"

"May be so. But we are getting the house for half its value. So what's the problem if he wants to keep a small nail?"

The wife finally relented, the contract was signed, and Mullah Nasruddin moved out.

A month went by. One evening they heard a knock on the door. It was Nasruddin, with head bowed.

"Oh Mullah, where have you been? We were wondering about you," lied the crooked man.

Nasruddin explained that he had come to worship his nail and the man agreed to let him into the house.

Mullah humbly walked behind the man, bowed in front of the nail, and put his hat on it.
As he was about to leave, the man questioned him.

"Hey, hey, what is that doing there?"

"That's my hat."

"Yes, but you can't leave it in my house."

"'course I can" said the Mullah as he headed towards the door. "It is on my nail."

Two weeks passed before Mullah Nasruddin's next visit.

"Ah, good morning Mullah. You have come to take back your hat, I presume."

"No thank you, my dear friend. I have come to worship my nail." Once again he bowed before the nail and, his worship finished, he hung a scarf with his hat and turned to leave.

The crooked man was not amused but there was nothing he could do when Nasruddin claimed he was worshipping his dead father's nail. The man sucked the end of his moustache and persuaded himself that this would be the last time, if only because there was nothing more the mad Mullah could possibly hang on the nail. He slammed the door behind the departing pilgrim and hoped his wife wouldn't be too angry.

A week later Mullah Nasruddin returned and bowed towards the nail. Before turning to leave he took off his coat and hung it on the nail along with the hat and the scarf.

The wife was furious and she upbraided her husband. "Now look what he's done. He is taking advantage of our kindness. Advantage of your weakness." "But what can I do?" The unhappy husband chewed at the ragged end of his moustache. "We agreed that he can do whatever he wants with his nail. But fear not, pumpkin, now the nail is full."

The next day, Mullah Nasruddin showed up again. The man tried to shut the door in his face when he saw who it was, but Nasruddin had already placed his foot inside – nothing was going to stop him worshipping his nail.

"Oh God. You again. I do hope this is the last time!" He tugged at the hair on his upper lip.

"Possibly" replied Nasruddin with his usual benign smile. He entered, dragging behind him the carcass of a cow and as he proceeded to hang it on his nail, the wife went mad with rage, and screamed at her husband.

"Get that out of my house or I'm leaving you!"

The husband protested vehemently, "Mullah Nasruddin, this is going too far. We cannot have that."

"But you signed the contract, good neighbor."

"Well, we will see about that. Let us have the council of elders make a ruling."

Soon an assembly of all the wise men of the village had been convened, and the neighbor explained the situation while smearing the few wisps of his once bristling moustache across his upper lip, as though the sprouts hair offended him.

Mullah simply presented the contract, without uttering a word in his defense.

The wise men studied it carefully, and eventually pronounced that the Mullah was perfectly entitled to do as he wished with his nail. There is nothing in the contract that restricted how the nail should be worshipped. The case was therefore dismissed, and the neighbor went home dejected.

After long arguments with his wife and a sleepless night, he begged Mullah to buy his house back, at a bargain price. Nasruddin agreed and they moved out as quickly as possible.

Mullah was once again was able to enjoy his house and his nail, having made a tidy sum of money.

This tale contains a profound spiritual teaching. The nail symbolizes the last desire left in the mind, the last samskara hidden by the ego. If we do not take care to remove it, then the whole world will gradually start to pile up again with all its rotting carcasses of desires and cravings and fears.

Let us be careful not to stop half way up the spiritual mountain, thinking that we have reached the summit of realization. Our work is to the death of the ego, until the final victory. We must be very vigilant at all times. If we think that our ego is gone, we lower our guard and open ourselves to failure.

 

LIFE IS IN HANDS

LIFE IS IN HANDS

 

"He came there with the sole object of testing Baba and with no other motive." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 49.

 

We know how children are—always playfully testing and pushing the boundaries, to find out what they can get away with. But for this young student at the monastery, the matter was serious. He had a grudge against his teacher and he was determined to prove him wrong. After weeks of intense scheming, he finally concocted a devilish plan that he thought was a fool-proof way of ridiculing his master.

One early morning, on his way to lessons, he caught a baby dove which he hid in the palm of his hands. In front of the whole class he showed his cupped hands to his teacher.

"Master, I know that you know everything, so I want you to solve this riddle that I've designed for you. I have in my hands a dove. Can you tell me if it is alive or dead?"

His plan could not fail. If the master said the dove was alive, the student would subtly break its neck within his closed palms. If the master said it was dead, the student would simply open his hands and show that it was alive. Either way, the master would be wrong. The monk had great intuition and knew the evil plan of his student. But his answer defeated his student. What did he say?

The master simply said, "My son, the answer is in your hands."


Good and evil impulses are forever raging within our consciousness. Even in holy places or in saintly company, negative tendencies will arise and will have to be conquered.

This clever Zen riddle shows how to resolve this terrible conflict. The master did not engage the battle at the level that the student (representing the ego) expected. He turned the matter over to the student's own conscience, indirectly telling him "My son, I know the dark forces you are battling within yourself. Do not indulge in these negative tendencies, and turn yourself over to the light within. No one can do it for you. The outcome of your inner struggle is in your hands."

 

SEEING WITHIN YOU

SEEING WITHIN YOU

 

Baba said, "There exists in you, as well as in all beings, a sense of Being or Consciousness of Existence. That is Myself. Knowing this, you see Me inside yourself, as well as in all beings. If you practise this, you will realize all-pervasiveness, and thus attain oneness with Me." Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 44.

 

 

A precious necklace was seen flashing from the bottom of a lake.

Many felt tempted to recover the valuable ornament and dived deep into the water for it, but found no necklace anywhere.

Yet it was clearly visible to everyone from the edge of the lake. They were all puzzled.

Eventually they realized that there was no necklace at the bottom of the lake; what they saw was its reflection in the water.

They looked up and discovered the precious ornament hanging from a tree. A bird must have picked it up from somewhere and deposited it there.

They realised their folly and understood the hidden truth within.

God who dwells within you is the source of true happiness. In the objects of the senses this happiness is merely reflected. The individual, misled by birth after birth by having only a glimpse of this reflected joy, thinks that this is the real thing, namely sensuous delight. So long as one believes that true happiness can be had in sense objects without searching within, one will never taste true happiness. The kingdom of God, hence of happiness, is within you

WHAT IS MARRIAGE THEN

WHAT IS MARRIAGE THEN

 

"Contentment with one's own lot in the belief that whatever happens, is ordained by God, and is ultimately good for us." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 20.

 

A student asks a teacher, "What is love?"

 

The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, go to the wheat field and choose the biggest wheat and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick."

The student went to the field, went through the first row, he saw one big wheat, but he wondered....may be there is a bigger one later. So he moved on...

Then he saw another bigger one... but may be there is an even bigger one waiting for me, he thought.

 

Later, when he finished more than half of the wheat field, he started to realize that the wheat is not as big as the previous one he saw, he knew he had missed the biggest one, and he regretted.

Disappointed, he went back to the teacher empty handed. 

The teacher told him, "...this is love... you keep looking for a better one, but later you realise, you have already missed the right person...."

"What is marriage then?" the student asked.

The teacher said, "in order to answer your question, once again go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the same rule applies: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick."

Again, the student went to the corn field, and this time he was careful not to repeat the previous mistake, when he reached the middle of the field, he picked one medium corn that he felt satisfied with, and came back to the teacher.

The teacher told him, "mm...this time you brought back a corn.... good, so you looked for the one that was just nice, and you had a great belief and trust that this is the best one you could get.... this is marriage."

 

Love manifests, not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly, and this feeling develops with mutual trust in each other. To love someone is to see a miracle in them which is invisible to the others.

 

Love is a flower which ripens into the fruit at marriage. Marriage is that love personified. The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the temple or church or wedding hall. It's a choice we make, not just on our wedding day, but over and over again and that choice is reflected in the way we treat our husband or wife.

 

Success in marriage is much more than finding the right person, it is a matter of being the right person! What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much on how compatible we are, but how much we can deal with incompatibilities.

 

A successful marriage often requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. The more we invest in marriage, the more valuable it becomes.

 

Do not marry the person whom you think you can live with, marry the person whom you think you can't live without!

 

 

UNITED WE LIVE

UNITED WE LIVE

 

Baba said, "Join hands and bring both the communities together, act sanely and thus you will gain your object." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 10

 

 

A tailor was at work. He took a piece of cloth and with a pair of shining, costly, scissors, he cut the cloth into various bits.

 

Then he put the pair of scissors at his feet. Then he took a small needle and thread and started to sew the bits of cloth, into a fine shirt. When the spell of sewing was over, he stuck the needle on to his turban.

 

The tailor's son who was watching it asked him: "Father, the scissors are costly and look so beautiful. But you throw them down at your feet. This needle is worth almost nothing; you can get a dozen for an Anna (25 paise). Yet, you place it carefully on your head itself. Is there any reason for this illogical behaviour?"

 

"Yes, my son. The scissors have their function, no doubt; but they only cut the cloth into bits. The needle, on the contrary, unites the bits and enhances the value of the cloth. Therefore, the needle to me is more precious and valuable. The value of a thing depends on its utility, son, not on its cost-price or appearance."

 

CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGING PRIORITIES

CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGING PRIORITIES

 

"Really this Jiva (human soul) transcends the three qualities, viz. Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, but being deluded by Maya, he forgets his nature which is 'Existence-knowledge-bliss', and thinks that he is the doer and enjoyer and thus entangles himself in endless miseries and does not know the way of deliverance." Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 23

 

What happened? What did you find out?"

"Nothing… much, really." The astrologer pushed his palm leaf charts behind him and faced his friend over the low table. He didn't know what to say. The news was not good. "What about you? Did you do my chart?"

"Oh, yes, replied his friend," who was clutching his book to his chest. "I did it." He too had bad news to tell his friend.

The two friends had decided to cast each other's chart. Astrologers never read their own future – it was taboo in their trade.

"Look. I'm sorry. I have to tell you. You're going to die and soon. In fact you're going to be re-born as an elephant."

"Oh, thank God. I mean, `Oh no!'" He was shocked by the news but relieved. "You're going to die soon, too. You're going to be reborn as a worm."

The future worm fell to his knees and begged the future elephant, "Please, let us make a covenant between us. When you are reborn as an elephant, you'll not cease until you find me in my worm incarnation, and immediately put me out of my misery so that I may be reborn as a nobler creature. Please promise you'll do this for me. Just step on me; one foot is enough."

The future elephant remained silent for a while. Finally, he said, "Yes. I shall do that for you, my friend."

As ordained by fate, they soon died within weeks of each other and were reborn. The astrologer-elephant had perfect recollection of his previous incarnation, and his sacred vow to his friend. He immediately set out exploring the jungle, lifting rocks, looking around the forest. But he could not find his worm friend. He asked the other animals in the jungle, "Have you seen my little worm friend? He's thin; he has poor eyesight, and doesn't move too fast." None of them had seen his friend.

The elephant started putting posters on the trees.  'Reward - Have you seen this worm?'

Weeks and months were passing, and the elephant was beginning to feel that he would miss his opportunity to fulfill his commitment. One day he came across a funny-looking rock. Lowering his huge head, he saw a little wisp of steam rising from the rock. Peering still closer, he noticed that the smoke was coming from a little tube protruding from the stone. It looked like a chimney! "I bet there's a little house in there" he thought. He carefully lifted the rock with his trunk and found himself looking straight down into a tiny little house… and there was his friend in a rocking chair, reading the evening news in front of a nice fire, with his wife and kids preparing a nice dish of rotting vegetables.

The elephant trumpeted, "My friend, I am so happy to have found you. Now I can fulfill my vow," and he lifted his foot. The little worm cried "No, no, forget the foolish covenant we made. That was before I discovered how good it was to be a worm. The deal is off, it's cancelled! Don't do it!"

The elephant calmly replied, "You'll thank me later," and squashed him.

Our goals change the minute we become more comfortable in our new persona, our new role, and the new circumstances. This is a very common delusion in the spiritual life. We may start our any endeavor with the best of intentions—to reach the highest goal. As we begin to enjoy the new look, the company, the pleasant feelings… little by little, the comfort of the journey becomes the goal, and all our efforts now aim at justifying this choice.

The future worm thought that being a worm was going to be awful and he wanted to be quickly put out of his misery. But he started to enjoy worm life. The elephant symbolizes the spiritual master, who pushes us outside of our comfort zone, prodding us mercilessly to remember our divine self. He crushes our illusions, our ego, and our attachments to the world. Yes, it is painful. But as the Sufis say, "When the ego cries at what it has lost, the soul laughs at what it has gained."