Friday, November 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Do you want peace of mind?
Do you want peace of mind?
Then think only of pleasing God.
Do not care for the blame or praise of men!
With a smile on your lips,
Say to yourself:
"They say; what do they say? Let them say!"
Then think only of pleasing God.
Do not care for the blame or praise of men!
With a smile on your lips,
Say to yourself:
"They say; what do they say? Let them say!"
Thursday, November 8, 2012
HAPPY DIWALI
We pray to God to give you Shanti, Shakti, Sampati, Swarup, Saiyam, Saadgi, Safalta, Samridhi, Sanskar, Swaasth, Sanmaan, Saraswati, aur SNEH. SHUBH DIWALI.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Thoroughly and immediately purifying oneself
Thoroughly and immediately purifying oneself
After travelling all over the world, Shrila Narada Muni approached Lord Brahma (his own father and guru) during the time when Dvapara-yuga was about to end. He asked him, "O Lord! How will all the living entities be able to deliver themselves from the most degraded age of Kali which is about to begin".
Lord Brahma replied, "You have asked the most important and relevant question for the benefit of humanity. I will tell you now the most concealed secret of the Vedic literatures, with the help of which everyone can easily cross this most dangerous age of Kali.
"Simply by chanting the transcendental names of the original enjoyer and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Narayana, all the sins will be cleansed in Kali-yuga."
Narada Muni again asked, "Which are those specific names of the Lord which are most effective in Kali-yuga?"
Lord Brahma replied, "The sixteen words – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare – are especially meant for completely destroying all the contamination of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali-yuga, there is no alternative in all the Vedas except the chanting of this sixteen-word mantra.
"This maha-mantra consisting of sixteen names of Krishna is the destroyer of the (16-layered) illusory covering of all the living entities. Only when the coverings are destroyed, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear in the heart of the living entities, just like the sun appears with full intensity when the clouds are removed."
Shrila Narada again inquired from Lord Brahma – "What are the procedures and rules for chanting this maha-mantra?"
Lord Brahma replied, "There are no rules and regulations to chant this maha-mantra. It should be chanted always irrespective of whether one is in a pure or impure condition."
When one chants the 16 names of the maha-mantra 35 million times (sardha trikotir), he absolves himself of the sins of killing a brahmana or a kshatriya, stealing of gold or engaging in harmful activities towards one's forefathers or other living entities.
By chanting the maha-mantra, one becomes quickly purified from all sins accumulated due to rejecting all of one's duties in our past lives. Thus the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is the only means, the only means, the only means of thoroughly and immediately purifying oneself in Kali-yuga.
Thus ends the Kali-santarana Upanishad
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Not a Substance To Substantiate
Not A Substance To Substantiate
There was once a queen who was a great devotee of Rama. She felt sad that her husband, the Raja, never even uttered the name of Rama and had no Bhakthi. She had vowed that the first occasion, on which she got evidence of his Bhakthi or at least respect for Rama Nama, she would conduct Puja in all the temples and feed the poor on a lavish scale.
Then, one night, while fast asleep, the Raja uttered the name of Rama thrice sincerely and prayerfully. She heard the Naamasmarana and was happy at the discovery of her husband's devotion to Rama.
So she ordered general rejoicing throughout the kingdom and the feeding of the poor. The Raja did not know the reason for the celebration for he was only told that it was an order of the Rani, which the officers carried out. Finally he enquired the Rani and she told him the reason.
The Raja when he heard this, felt very sorry that he had uttered in his sleep the sacred name of Rama and that he had let the Rama Nama out of his mouth, for he had always wanted to keep his devotion and spirituality to himself as it was his own personal wealth and he wanted no one to know of his `love' for Rama.
That was the depth of devotion and love he had for Rama that he hated to physically display it outside and show off to others. When the Rani realized this, she felt very ashamed to have judged the Raja's devotion and asked his forgiveness.
Now a days, there is a widely prevalent habit of judging others and labeling them as Bhaktas (devotees) or Nasthikas (non believers). But what do we know of the inner working of another's mind and the amount of devotion present in another person's heart?
One should not judge someone else's level of spiritual evolution just by external means or comparison with others. Each of us is unique and have different stages of evolution which an ordinary mind may not be able to gauge. So look before you imagine or assume something about others.
There are many who will not shout or express anything outside about their Guru or their spiritual saddhanas. As Lord Krishna says in the Gita, one's spiritual saddhanas are for oneself. It should not be a matter of display to others. "Iham Guhyatamam Shaastram" - this is the secret one should know.
Rama Nama or any other japa must be as constant as breathing. For this, practice is essential. A person once told Dr. Johnson, the famous English thinker, that he could seldom get time to recite the name of God, with the hundreds of things he had to do from morning till nightfall and even far into the night. Dr. Johnson replied asking him another question.
He asked how did so many millions of people find space to live upon the face of the earth, which is two thirds water and rest is full of mountains, deserts, forests, icy regions, river-bees, marshes and similar impossible areas. The questioner said that man somehow struggled to find a living space. So too, said Dr. Johnson, man must somehow find atleast a few minutes everyday for prayer to the Lord and uplifting oneself through spiritual saddhanas and reading the scriptures and satsangha.
God will never ask how many times you prayed everyday or how many expensive things you offered to Him. He is most pleased with that devotee who even offers him a flower or a leaf or water with total purity and devotion for Him even for a moment.
May we develop such devotion and love for the Supreme and never judge another person's devotion by our mere limited thoughts and assumptions. Let us beware of such misunderstandings and misjudgments and stay away from such gossipers.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Are You Disappointed?
"Do they all get benefit from Him" - Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 25.
Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, each with ten seeds.
That's a lot of seeds!
We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you better try more than once."
This might mean:
You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.
You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.
You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, car, vacuum cleaner, insurance policy, idea...
And you might meet a hundred acquaintances to find one special friend.
When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed.
We stop feeling like victims. Laws of nature are not things to take personally.
We just need to understand them - and work with them.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
EVIL THOUGHTS DEVIL’S DEVICE
EVIL THOUGHTS DEVIL'S DEVICE
"Only we should never entertain evil thoughts" – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 49.
There was a man in Isfahan who used to beat his wife but unfortunately she succumbed to his beating though he had not intended to kill her. But when she was dead he became fearful of her relatives. In a state of anxiety he came out of his house and met an acquaintance to whom he posed his problem.
The friend told him to invite a young man to his house and behead him and put the severed head next to the wife's corpse. Then he would tell the wife's relatives that he had found them together in bed and was unable to control his ire. And slew them both. The man liked the idea and sat at the doorway in anticipation of a young man. After sometime a handsome youth passed by his house. He invited him inside and beheaded him.
Then he summoned the wife's relatives and told them the fictitious story. They were satisfied but the person who had devised this plan had a teenage son who did not reach home that day. The man was worried and when the son failed to turn up he came to the house of the one whom he had offered evil advice and asked him if he carried out the plan suggested by him. Yes, said he and took him near the dead bodies. He was shocked when he saw that the youth he had killed was his own son. His evil advice caused the death of his own son.
The moral of this story is that one who digs a pit for others falls into it himself.
History is replete with such incidents.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
A GUIDE FOR SPIRITUAL HEALING
Spiritual Healing
Contents
1. What is Spiritual Healing?
2. Difference between symptoms displayed and the root cause
3. What does Spiritual Healing heal?
4. Basic principles behind spiritual healing,4.1 Principle behind diagnosis, 4.2 Principle behind any type of spiritual healing
5. Main deities associated with dissolution of living beings
6. Modes of spiritual healing
7. Importance of spiritual level of the healer in treating others
8. Types of healing
9. What is the catalyst to channelise spiritual energies?
10. How will one know if one needs spiritual healing at all?
11. Can harm come to one in anyway, if spiritual healing is done incorrectly?
12. Who should we heal and when should we heal?
Spiritual healing is an important science that helps people to overcome problems that have their root cause in the spiritual realm. However unless the principles of this subtle science are understood and adhered to, spiritual healers can be negatively impacted by practicing spiritual healing. The most sustainable form of spiritual healing is enabling the person in trouble to begin and continue their spiritual practice.
1. What is Spiritual Healing?
Spiritual research done by Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) has shown that up to 80% of problems in our lives have their root in the spiritual dimension. Spiritual healing as defined by SSRF is overcoming the spiritual root causes of problems by spiritual means.
2. Difference between symptoms displayed and the root cause
It is important to differentiate the symptoms displayed by a person and the basic root cause. We can better understand this by an example.
Let's say John throws a bucket of water on the floor in Jane's room when she is not there. He then hides himself to watch Jane's reaction on her return. When Jane enters the room she searches high and low for the cause but cannot find the reason for the water on the floor. She then goes on to wipe the floor. John lets out an evil chuckle under his breath at Jane's plight and ignorance about the root cause.
This is a typical analogy of how a spiritual reason such as an attack by a ghost (John) can cause a problem in life such as a heart condition (i.e. the water on the floor). Due to the fact that we do not have the sixth sense vision to see or perceive the ghost, our search for the cause of, for example, the chest pain remains limited only to the physical or psychological dimension.
3. What does Spiritual Healing heal?
We can now appreciate that in cases of heart disease resulting from a spiritual root cause, medical or surgical treatment can only alleviate the consequent damage done by the spiritual root cause. Thus by treating the heart condition by surgery or medicine, medical sciences can at best bring about a symptomatic cure. The condition however reoccurs as the root cause, for example, the ghost, is not taken care of.
Spiritual healing is about diagnosis and removal of the spiritual root cause of the problem, that is, the ghost in the above example of heart disease. It could also be used for stopping a potential problem happening in the first place.
Though advanced spiritual healing remedies can also revert the physical damage done, in most cases it is advisable to use physical measures (treatment) to alleviate the physical damage (i.e. the water in our example above). This is because one would have to use a lot of spiritual energy to achieve what can be done with comparatively lower input at a physical level. This is considering that spiritual energy is invaluable and extremely difficult to acquire compared to any physical effort.
It is for this reason that the Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) emphasises that only the appropriate level of energy be used for treating a problem. So for example, if a person is having eczema due to a spiritual root cause, it needs to be treated at a physical level with medicines and the spiritual root cause needs to be alleviated by spiritual remedies.
4. Basic principles behind spiritual healing
4.1. Principle behind diagnosis
Diagnosis of a problem that has its root cause in the spiritual realm can only be done with one's sixth sense (ESP). The accuracy of a diagnosis can vary considerably and is a function of 2 basic factors:
- The person's sixth sense (ESP) ability and spiritual level versus the strength of the affecting entity or ghost (demon, devil, spirit, etc.)
- Destiny that decides the duration of sufferings
- Resolve of the guiding Saint of the spiritual healer
4.2. Principle behind any type of spiritual healing
The following is the principle behind any type of spiritual healing treatment practiced anywhere in the world.
Basically by applying spiritual healing remedies we try to:
- Decrease the subtle basic raja-tama components caused by the ghosts
- Increase the subtle basic Sattva component
- Try to remove or at least decrease the layer of black energy created by ghosts
- which is inherently raja-tama.
- (Sattva (purity, Divinity), raja (action, passion) and tama (ignorance, inertia) are basic subtle components entire Creation is made of and which modern sciences have not yet 'discovered')
5. Generic types of spiritual healing methods
There are two generic methods of spiritual healing. These are the two choices that apply to all of us who have a problem that has its root cause in the spiritual realm.
- Spiritual remedies: This is where either someone else or the affected person himself performs a certain specific act to alleviate a certain problem at a spiritual level.
- Spiritual practice: When a person does spiritual practice that conforms to the five basic principles of spiritual practice he builds his own ability to protect himself against harmful elements in the spiritual dimension
The first method of healing mostly brings about symptomatic cure and sometimes cure of the spiritual root cause, while the second brings about cure of the root cause of a spiritual problem.
6. Modes of spiritual healing
The energy being channelised for healing is brought about through:
- Use of an inanimate object such as holy water or holy ash.
- Through a person
- Through a person (generally the person has to be above 50% spiritual level)
- Through a Saint i.e. a person above the 70% spiritual level.
- (Here spiritual level is defined on a scale from 0% to 100% where inanimate objects would be at 0% and a God Realised Soul, i.e. someone Who has merged with God Principle, would be at 100%)
- Through a person (generally the person has to be above 50% spiritual level)
Depending on the mode used, the mechanism of action, i.e. how energy is channelised, changes.
7. Importance of spiritual level of the healer in treating others
The spiritual level of spiritual healers is the all important aspect which defines:
- How they are able to treat others
- What healing methods they can use and
- The types of Universal energies they have access to
8. Types of healing
Examples of various spiritual healing techniques that are commonly used to heal others can be:
- Chanting the Lord's name: Chanting for others is possible only when one is at the minimum spiritual level of 37% and is the easiest way to help another person.
- Prayers and surrender: When we pray we acknowledge our lack of ability to solve a problem. This surrender of the problem also helps in reducing our ego and therefore a temporary rise in spiritual level. As a result, we are able to access energy of the mind which sends energy behind our prayer for others. Hence our prayers to heal others work.
- Spiritual healing techniques: Spiritual healing techniques such as Pranic healing and Reiki actually use the energy of the mind augmented by the Universal Energy of Will. This type of spiritual healing can only be done by a person around the 50% spiritual level. They do not access any universal vital energy. Vital energy only exists at an individual level and not at a Universal level. When one has access to energy of the mind one is able to control the vital energy in the vital body.
A person who is below the spiritual level of 50% technically cannot heal using these methods. This is because they do not have enough access to Universal energies. In case where a person below the spiritual level of 50% is able to do seemingly miraculous cures by Pranic healing or Reiki, invariably it is ghosts healing through them. Ghosts use these healers to affect society. While there may be temporary relief or miraculous cure from a problem, ghosts use the faith people have in the healer to infuse people with black energy and lead people astray.
9. What is the catalyst to channelise spiritual energies?
The main deciding factor as to whether a person has the ability to heal is based on the amount of spiritual practice he/she has done and the corresponding spiritual level. This spiritual practice can either be of this lifetime or a previous lifetime.
The healer's desire to heal is a secondary factor that helps hone a spiritual healer's ability to heal.
10. How will one know if one needs spiritual healing at all?
Spiritual research conducted by the Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) over the past 20 years has revealed that 80% of problems in life have their root cause in the spiritual dimension. Thus these problems can be overcome completely only by complementing worldly efforts with remedies in the spiritual dimension. This explains the overwhelming importance of spiritual healing in solving problems in one's life.
It is difficult to decide with the help of intellect whether one needs to augment spiritual practice with other spiritual remedies. Only Saints and people with strong extrasensory perception (ESP) or sixth sense can really say with authority whether a spiritual healing remedy is needed because only they can diagnose whether the problem has a spiritual root cause.
However one can also make a decision based on their intellect if the following are observed:
- Problems that do not go away despite best of worldly efforts.
- Chronic or recurrent problems with no apparent cause.
- Problems affecting many people in a family simultaneously.
- Problems that exacerbate around new moon and full moon.
- Problems that are alleviated at least partially when the affected person is exposed to a spiritually positive environment like being in company of Saints.
So in summary it is advisable to do spiritual practice, a type of spiritual remedy, on a daily basis.
11. Can harm come to one in anyway, if spiritual healing is done incorrectly?
The short answer is - yes. Following are some of the ways it can be harmful:
Healers that are after fame and fortune and of lower spiritual level are most likely to be targeted by ghosts. Higher level ghosts use these defects and attachments in the spiritual healer to affect and possess them. The possession is insidious and intangible and the healer would not have the faintest clue that he is being controlled by a ghost. Hence it goes unnoticed. Once they have possessed the healer, they initially alleviate symptoms of the persons treated by the healer through their spiritual strength to get their faith but also to infuse black energy into the treated persons.
If the healer does not have an advanced sixth sense he may not be able to discern the difference between positive and negative in the subtle world. Hence while the healer may think he is channelising energy from spirit guides he is actually healing with black energy of ghosts posing as spirit guides. So even though the initial symptoms may be cured to gain the patient's faith, the long term effects are quite damaging.
12. Who should we heal and when should we heal?
At the outset we need to understand two important principles.
- The best type of spiritual healing is when a person does spiritual practice for oneself. In this way, one builds up one's own spiritual reserves so that he is less prone to attack from the spiritual dimension. Doing regular spiritual practice is also far more sustainable as a protective measure than being spiritually healed using some form of spiritual healing. As much as possible spiritual healers need to encourage people to begin and be regular with their spiritual practice, even if they continue to come for healing. Spiritual practice complements the spiritual healer's efforts in removing the problem.
- Spiritual growth to realise God is our main purpose in life. Accordingly if all our actions, spiritual healing or otherwise are aligned to assist ourselves and others to progress spiritually we benefit maximally.
Given the above, spiritual healers' time and energy is best spent when they help other people to overcome any spiritual obstacles that are inhibiting them from practising Spirituality. In this way they are helping people grow spiritually. From a purely spiritual perspective, it is best that one does not use spiritual healing energy on people that have no intention of starting spiritual practice. The reason for this is that unless a person does spiritual practice to augment the spiritual healing, it at best brings about temporary relief as the affecting entity can cause harm in other areas of life or the person can be affected repeatedly by other entities. Spiritual healers have access to Universal energy appropriate to their spiritual level. Along with this comes a responsibility to help people to grow spiritually which is being in alignment with our purpose of life. If this is not the case a spiritual healer begins to stagnate and invariably deteriorates in his spiritual level and can potentially be used by ghosts.
It is advisable not to get emotionally carried away healing people just for the sake of healing. If it is in a person's destiny to go through a certain amount of suffering then all we do is alleviate it temporarily. But the person still has to go through the required quota of suffering. Instead, it would be spiritually more correct if our intention was to heal a person so he gets the faith that the spiritual dimension does exist and this in turn inspires him to begin his spiritual practice.
Summary
Spiritual healing is practised by many people worldwide. Only by understanding the principles and the spiritual perspective on 'who' and 'when' to heal can we be sure to be in alignment with the purpose of life. The best spiritual healing gift that one can give others is assisting them in beginning their spiritual practice so that they can help themselves. This is akin to giving a person a fishing rod and making him independent as opposed to spoon-feeding him and giving him a fish.
For more information, please visit: www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Beauty and Purity of Feeling
Beauty and Purity of Feeling
"Baba did not care much for more outward formalities but if an offering was made in meek and humble spirit, the same was welcome and He accepted it with pleasure and avidity." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 16, 17.
According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.
After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container.
The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"
The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."
When we receive innocent gifts of love from young children, whether it's a crushed paper painting or a clay figure, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.
We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts. Also, when we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest of appreciation is not to utter mere words, but to live by them.
The next time you receive any gifts from anyone, no matter however small it may be, remember the love behind and don't judge the gift with its appearance.
Have a deep sense of gratitude for whatever you receive in life in whatever form it may be.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
IDENTIFY YOUR OPPORTUNITY
IDENTIFY YOUR OPPORTUNITY
"Those desiring wealth will get it; those who are upright in their conduct and dealings will have complete renown. The results will depend upon their faith." - Shree Sai Samarth Satcharitra, Ch. 52, Ver. 48.
One night a group of nomads were preparing to retire for the evening, when suddenly they were surrounded by a great light.
They knew they were in the presence of a celestial being.
With great anticipation, they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them.
Finally, the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles as you can. Put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day's journey. Tomorrow night you will be both glad and sad."
Soon afterwards, the nomads shared their disappointment and anger with each other.
They had expected the revelation of a great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all.
However, the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each one to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddle bags while voicing their displeasure.
They traveled a day's journey. That night, while making camp, they reached into their saddle bags and discovered that the pebbles they had gathered the night before had turned into beautiful and brilliant diamonds!.
Indeed, they were both glad and sad, just as the voice had promised.
They were glad they now had beautiful and valuable diamonds. They were sad they had not gathered more pebbles when they had the opportunity.
If you spend time picking up the pebbles now –(learning all you can about the truth of life and how to set your goals and live a purposeful and meaningful life, and also working hard to apply your knowledge practically and live a happy life at present )-- your future will then transform all that effort into great rewards.
Don't be disappointed with little kicks and setbacks life offers you. Always turn any situation to the positive and try to learn the hidden lessons behind it.
Make proper use of the opportunities in life given to you and do it now, never procrastinate.
Monday, August 6, 2012
LET US GO TO THE TEMPLES
LET US GO TO THE TEMPLES
A 'devotee' wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to the temple. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 mantras. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the priests are wasting theirs by giving services at all."
This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to the temple for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
When you are Down to nothing..... God is Up to something!Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!
Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment!
And thank God that we can still go to our temples, and that we have temples to go to.
Let us not waste the opportunity.
Let us go to our temples and absorb the Vedic knowledge and wisdom which nourishes our soul and fills the emptiness left from materialistic endeavors
Thursday, August 2, 2012
BENEFITS OF HOLY READING
BENEFITS OF HOLY READING
Baba said, "Read this completely and you will be benefited" – Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 27.
An old Farmer and son lived on a farm. One day the grandson said, "I try to read the Bhagavad Gita just like you but I don't understand it much. And whatever little I understand, I forget it very soon. What is the use of reading this book?"
The old farmer quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."
The young boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back home. The farmer asked him to try again and again. But every single time, the water leaked out of the basket before he got back to the house. Finally, he said exhausted, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"
"So you think it's useless?" old farmer said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket to a new clean one, inside and out.
"Son, that's what happens when you read a book like the Bhagavad Gita. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it again and again, you will realize the benefit one day."
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
THE WHOLEHEARTED AND COMPLETE FAITH
THE WHOLEHEARTED AND COMPLETE FAITH
Baba said, "If it has wholehearted and complete faith, it will be one with Supreme Consciousness." In Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 3.
Once there was a priest. He used to travel far and wide to deliver sermons. He would read out the Bible to the people, exhort them to say their prayers and also tell them how to pray properly. Once he reached an isolated island by a ship. There lived three old men. They were very simple, unsophisticated and ordinary people.
The priest asked, "Do you say prayers?"
They said, "We only know how to remember God. That is all. We do not know anything else."
The priest asked, "How do you remember Him?"
They said innocently, "We just sit down and say, 'protect us, protect us.'"
Giving them a dirty look, the priest said sternly, "Is this the way to pray? You have wasted the whole of your life. I will tell you the proper way to say your prayers."
The priest taught them a prayer from the Bible. The poor old people were illiterate. They would forget it again and again and the priest had to tell it repeatedly.
After teaching the prayer, the priest left their place by the ship. After a little while, when night fell, the priest noticed that three lights were advancing towards the ship.
The priest wondered what it could be.
When the lights reached near the ship, the priest noticed that the three old men, with lantern on their hands, were fast approaching the ship, walking on the water, the way we walk on the earth!
The priest gasped on wonderment at this sight.
The old men shouted, "Priest, sire please stop for a minute. We have forgotten the prayer you had taught us. Kindly say it again to us."
The priest exclaimed, "You are walking on the water!"
One of the old men said, "What is there to be surprised at? We do not have any boat but we can walk comfortably. We humbly requested God to help us to reach you; thereafter we started walking."
The priest folded his hands and said, "Holy men, please go back. You need not learn anything. You should keep on remembering God the same way you have been doing it earlier; God enshrined in your hearts, listens to your sincere devout call. That is all."
You need not have wealth, strength, prosperity or bookish knowledge to attain God. The only way to attain Him is to call Him with strong faith in Him. What did those old men possess? Nothing. The only thing they had was their strong faith in God. With that faith as their only possession, they would call God, say to Him, whatever they wanted to and ask Him whatever they needed. With that faith they attained the power, which is beyond the reach of even the great mystics.
If strong faith in God springs from your heart, nothing else will be left to be done by you. You will overcome all your miseries. God will extend His hands towards you. Do not miss catching hold of those hands then.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Add Lord to Solve Your Problems
There was once a very wealthy man in a village, he had 19 horses and when he was dying he made his will and in the will he distributed all his property and it said, "half of the horses should go to my son, one forth of the horses I have should go to the village priest, and one fifth of the horses I have should go to my servant" and the man died.
Everyone came there scratching their heads, 19 horses, half of the horses should go to sons, what 9 and ½ horses, how to divide, one forth of the horses, how we are going to divide that and everyone kept scratching their heads, they were just not able to divide the horses in that proportion. Then a very wise saint came riding on a horse, he said that "I will give the solution to your problem. You want to divide 19 horses into 1/4th, 1/5th and ½, very simple". The other's said, " have you gone crazy, how you divide 19 horses into half".
The saint got off the horse and then he also put his horse with the 19 horses, that became 20 horses. Now half of 20 is how much, 10 which goes to the son, 1/4th of the 20 is 5 which goes to the village priest and 1/5th of 20 is 4 which goes to the servant, 10+5+4=19. This is how the 19 horses of the man were divided and the saint then took back his horse and rode away.
Solutions are very simple. We have multiple problems in our life, 19 problems in our life, add God, the 20th, Add SAIBABA to your life, everything will be worked out smoothly. Here is an working example.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Mysterious is the path of action
Baba said, "You see mysterious is the path of action. Though I do nothing, they hold Me responsible for the actions which take place on account of destiny." – Sri Sai Sai Satcharita, Ch. 34.
A true story from Loran in J&K (Poonch & Rajouri) Sector. A tale reflecting the character & high values of the brave men guarding the nation...
They were on their way to the post where they would be deployed for next three months. The batch being relieved was waiting anxiously for their arrival so that they could fall back to safer confines of their parent unit. Some would proceed on leave and meet their families. They were happy that they were to relieve a set of comrades who had done their job. It was a treacherous climb and the journey was to last till the next evening. Cold winter month with intermittent snowfall added to the torture.
If only someone could offer a cup of tea, the Major thought, knowing completely well that it was a futile wish.
They continued for another hour before they came across a dilapidated structure which looked like a small shop. It was locked.
It was 2 o'clock in the night and there was no house close to the shop where the owner could be located. In any case it was not advisable to knock any doors in the night for security reasons.
It was a stalemate. No tea boys, bad luck.
The Major told the men to take some rest since they had been walking for more than three hours now.
Sir, this is a tea shop indeed and we can make tea. We will have to break the lock though. The officer was in doubt about the proposed action but a steaming cup of tea was not a bad idea. He thought for a while and permitted for the lock to be broken. The lock was broken.
They were in luck.
The place was a shop indeed and had everything required to make tea, and also a few packets of biscuits.
The tea was prepared and it brought great relief to all in the cold night. They were now ready for the long and treacherous walk ahead of them and started to get ready to move.
The officer was in thoughts. They had broken open the lock and prepared tea and consumed biscuits without the permission of the owner. The payment was due but there was no one in sight.
The Major was not however moving out without doing what was to be done. He took out a Rs 1000/- note from his wallet and kept it on the counter, pressed under the sugar container, so that the owner sees it first thing when he arrives in the morning.
He was now relieved of the guilt and ordered the move.
Days, weeks and months passed. They continued to do gallantly what they were required to do and were lucky not to loose any one from the original group in the intense insurgency situation.
And then one day, it was time to be replaced by another brave lot.
Soon they were on their way back and stopped at the same shop, which was today open with the owner in place. He was an old man with very meager resources and was happy to see eight of them with the prospect of selling at least eight cups of tea that day.
All of them had their tea and spoke to the old man about his life and experiences in general, selling tea at such remote a location.
The poor, old man had many stories to tell all of them, replete with his faith in God.
"Kya Baba, yadi Allah hota to kyaa aap ke jaisa 'Allah kaa bandaa' is haal main hota, said one of them"; moved by his poverty and faith in God.
"Nahin Sahib, aise mat kaho, God actually exists.
I got the proof a few months back.
I was going through very tough times because my only son had been severely beaten by the terrorists who wanted some information from him which he did not have. I had closed the shop early that day and had taken my son to the hospital. There were medicines to be purchased and I had no money. No one would give me a loan from fear of the terrorists. There was no hope, Sahib.
And that day Sahib, I had prayed to Allah for help.
And that day Sahib, Allah walked into my shop.
When I returned to my shop that day and saw the lock broken, I thought someone had broken in and had taken away whatever little I had. But then I saw that 'Allah' had left Rs 1000/-under the sugar pot. Sahib, I can't tell you what that money was worth that day. Allah exists Sahib, he does.
I know people are dying every day here but all of you will soon meet your near and dear ones, your children, and you must thank your God Sahib, he is watching all of us. He does exist. He walked in my shop that day. I know he did."
The faith in his eyes was unflinching.
It was unnerving.
Seven set of eyes looked t their officer and read the order in his eyes clear and unambiguous, 'Keep quiet.'
The officer got up and paid the bill and hugged the old man.
"Yes Baba, I know, God does exist - and yes the tea was wonderful".
Seven set of eyes did not miss the moisture building in the eyes of the Major, a rare sight.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
10 wise sayings from Dalai Lama on his birthday
1. "This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
2. "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."
3. "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
4. "All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness. The important thing is they should be part of our daily lives."
5. "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
6. "If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them."
7. "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
8. "We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection."
9. "Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck."
10. "Sleep is the best meditation."
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Give Give Give
Baba said, "Give with faith, give with magnanimity, i.e. liberally, give with modesty, with awe and with sympathy." – Sri Sai Satcharia, Ch. 14.
A person was advised by a holy man to gift a vegetable a day and told that he would attain great merit by doing so.
The poor man strictly followed the advice. After death, he was reborn in a royal family and grew up to become a king. He was able to recall what he had done in his past birth. So, he continued to gift a vegetable a day.
Surprisingly, after death, he was reborn as a beggar. The man was unable to comprehend the reason and so sought the advice of the holy man who had earlier blessed him.
From the sage, he learnt that prior to becoming a king he had been very poor and so a gift of a vegetable aday was sufficient to give him a lot of virtue.
On the other hand, as a king he was endowed with affluence. So, thereafter, the gift of just a vegetable a day was quite insufficient to earn him merit of any consequence.
The person realized that the extent of charity needed to earn a certain degree of merit depends upon one's financial status.
Monday, July 2, 2012
AN OPPORTUNITY NEVER MISSED
AN OPPORTUNITY NEVER MISSED
Baba said, "You won't get any such opportunity hereafter" in Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 48.
There was a king who was a great devotee of Mother Goddess.
Once, a big army attacked his kingdom. Out of fear, he prayed to the Mother Goddess.
Goddess Parashakti appeared before him and blessed him with a sword.
The king, instead of using that powerful sword, said 'O, Mother, I cannot fight'.
Parashakti said, 'I will bless you with physical energy, go and fight'. The king still refused. This went on until the Goddess finally said 'You are destined to die'.
Alas, the king who got such a wonderful opportunity to turn his negatives to positives by the grace of the Goddess, lost his chance due to his own lack of faith and lack of sankalpa shakti, arising out of the ignorance of his own mind.
Thus due to his own restless and fickle mind he turned this opportunity of acquiring nectar into venom.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
TRAIN WINGS TO FLY
TRAIN WINGS TO FLY
"We are tested as it were. If we only hold on steadily to Baba with full faith and continue our endeavours, our efforts will be ultimately crowned with success." – Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 29.
Eagles lay eggs on a cliff or high peak in nest of grass and thorns. When the eggs hatch, the weight of the eaglets exerts pressure and the thorns start pricking the newborns. Then the female pushes the eaglets out of the nest. As the eaglets nearly fall, the male picks them and places them back in the nest.
Meanwhile, the female removes the upper layer of grass, so that the eaglets rest directly on the thorns that prick them. The eaglets are yet to test their wings. Now the male pushes the eaglets out of the nest.
This process continues till such time that the eaglets are able to foresee the danger in falling and start using their wings.
Slowly they realise their ability to use their wings and start flying.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
FAITH FULL FAITH
FAITH FULL FAITH
Baba said, "There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in any devotees' homes. It is my special characteristic, that I always look to, and provide, for the welfare of those devotees, who worship Me whole-heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me." – Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 6.
We should completely depend on the will of Krishna. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that he will take up the responsibility to maintain a surrendered devotee. "Whatever the devoteelacks," Krishna says, vahamy aham — "I personally carry it."
Srivas Pandit was not doing any business or going out to earn money. Day and night, twenty-four hours, he was engaged in sravana-kirtana and bhajana with all his family members.
Once, to test Srivas, Mahaprabhu asked him, "Srivas, you are a householder. You have a big family to maintain. Why don't you go earn some money? Otherwise, how will you maintain your big family?"
Srivas did not say anything. He only clapped three times. Mahaprabhu asked, "What does that mean?" Srivas said, "I have complete faith in your words — yoga ksemam vahamy aham. [Bg. 9.22] You have taken up the responsibility to maintain a surrendered soul, and whatever such a person lacks you personally carry. I and all my family members are engaged day and night in your service. We have no other business. Hari-seva is our only business." Srivas had firm faith that Krishna will maintain, that supplies would definitely come. If you become fully dependent on Krishna, engaged day and night, twenty-four hours, in Krishna's service, then the supplies will definitely come.
Then he explained the meaning of his clapping three times. "If supplies will not come on one day, we will fast. We will think that it is Krishna's will and we will fast for the day. If supplies do not come on the second and third day, still we will fast. And if on the fourth day no supplies come, then all of our family will go and drown ourselves in the Ganges and be finished. If Krishna becomes a liar, then how is he Bhagavan? And why will people do his bhajana?"
Hearing this, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became very happy. Mahaprabhu said, "Srivas! The supplies will definitely come! Why should you think of anything else?" Such a devotee is Srivas Pandit. He is niskama, completely desireless. ·
— Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, Lecture in Bali, Indonesia, 6 October 1995.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
BELIEVE IN TOTO
BELIEVE IN TOTO
"As men believe in Me, so do I accept them" – Sri Sai Satcharita, Ch.9.
The night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains and the man could not see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. As he was climbing only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell in to the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity.
He kept falling, and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air.
Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no other choice other to scream: "Help me God."
All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered, "What do you want me to do?"
"Save me God."
"Do you really think I can save you?"
"Of course I believe You can."
"Then cut the rope tied to your waist."
There was a moment of silence and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all his strength. The rescue team tells that the next day a climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope. His hands holding tight to it. Only one foot away from the ground.
And We? How attached we are to our rope will we let go??? Don't ever doubt about the words of God. We should never say that He has forgotten us or abandoned us.
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