THE GAME WE ARE PLAYING

THE GAME WE ARE PLAYING

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

 

A gang of monkeys once sat in discussion, "Man is so powerful. He has subjugated all species on land, water and has even conquered the moon. We need to find the secret of his power."

 

One monkey said, "Well, I think I know what the secret is. They fast on the sacred day of Ekadasi and at the end ask for a boon from their favourite deity, who then grants them the boon. That is their secret." Everyone was thrilled at the prospect of acquiring new powers and decided to go on a fast until the next day. The chief monkey forewarned the rest of them. "Remember the rule: no one should look at the fruits, lest you may be tempted to eat them. Keep your eyes fixed to the ground." Everyone followed the orders.

 

After few minutes a monkey said, "How long can we stare at the barren grounds? We should not look at the fruits, but surely we could enjoy the beauty of the vast sky, waterfall and nature." All of them agreed and began admiring the beauty around, trying to shun their vision from the fruits alone.

 

"What is the harm in looking at the3 fruits? After all, we are not going to eat them," said another one. It made sense and the fruit was also included in their nature watching list. "Hey, what if we don't have enough strength to get to those fruits by tomorrow when we complete our fast? Why don't we just sit at the beginning of a fruit branch?" The brilliant suggestion was given by another fellow monkey was immediately executed. Al the monkeys rushed to the nearest fruit branch and there the nature watching continued.

 

Hunger slowly started creeping in their empty stomachs. "What if these branches do not have ripe fruits? Then we would have to go in search of another tree, when all our energy is drained. Why don't we select the ripe fruits and sit near those branches?" All of them patted the little monkey for his thoughtfulness and scurried in search of ripe fruits and occupied those branches.

 

By now their stomach had begun noises. "What if the fruits are not tasty or have worms? Even then we would have to search for other ones," shouted another young monkey. After a short contemplating pause the chief monkey said, "OK, Probably we could just taste the fruits, but remember, no one should swallow it! All of you should spit it out immediately." All monkeys excitedly ran to the end of their branches, plucked a fruit and took a bite. Some spat it out and some swallowed 'unknowingly'. With the fruits in their hands all of them looked at each other with the eyes swaying end-to-end expecting someone to say something. Then one monkey declared, "Why take a risk? Let's eat enough today so that we could fast the whole day tomorrow effortlessly." They all agreed unanimously and pounced on the fruits.

 

While the fact remained that the monkeys wanted to eat the fruits, not able to confront this truth, they cooked up various theories and explanations to believe that it is not so, drowning once again in their self-complacency.

 

We too, are involved in a similar task. Out of 100 lies spoken by us, 90 of them we speak to ourselves. We have fewer values in life, which, due to variety of reasons we are not able to follow. We have created an ideal 'me' and are constantly trying to fit our actions and thoughts into those self created images, not being able to accept it, we create lies and began to believe them to be true. This is the game we are playing.

DOUBLE REWARDS FOR SELFLESSNESS

DOUBLE REWARDS FOR SELFLESSNESS

 

"Man must spend his life-time always in doing action, specially the karmas enjoined in the Shastras, in a mood of believing resignation to His will." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 20.

 

One day, Akbar and Birbal were going around the country, dressed to conceal who they were. In a village they found a very old man planting a sapling of mango.

 

Akbar came near the old man and asked him why he was planting a sapling at the old age when he would not hope to live to eat its fruits.

 

The old man replied that he enjoyed the fruits of mango trees which his father had planted. He added that his son would enjoy the fruits of the mango trees planted by him. He then made a quick remark saying that was how actions that took long time to bear fruit were carried out.

 

Akbar was surprised and happy at the old man's wisdom. He told him that he was the Emperor and gave him a bag od gold coins. He also said the whole country should benefit from the old man's wisdom.

 

The old farmer had a hearty laugh and said that his good act of planting a sapling of mango that day had helped him to get a fruit – a bag of gold coins as a gift.

 

Akbar was delighted that the old man's spoken words matched his good judgement. He gave him another bag of gold as a reward for his wisdom.

 

The old farmer said that mango tree normally yielded fruits once a year, or once in two years but his tree gave him two crops (gifts) in a single day.

CONFUSED WHOM TO WORSHIP?

CONFUSED WHOM TO WORSHIP?

 

"So with all earnestness and speed, we should strive to attain our end, i.e., self-realization." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 8.

 

Once there was a very pious Brahmin who was utterly devoted to his family deity. He worshipped this deity every day, sitting cross legged in front of the shrine in his home.

One day during his meditation, he observed that the prasad or food offered to the deity, which is customarily eaten by the devotee after worship, was snatched away by a mouse and eaten in front of his very eyes. The Brahmin was astonished to see this and concluded that the mouse was more powerful than the deity. Otherwise, how could it dare to eat the offering? So he grabbed hold of the mouse, and tying it with a string to the place of worship, decided to worship this creature instead of the deity.

He removed the picture of the deity from the shrine, and started worshipping the mouse. One day his cat, jealous of the attention the mouse was receiving, pounced upon the tiny creature. The two had a terrible fight, but of course the poor mouse was killed in the battle.

Now it was quite clear to the Brahmin that the cat was more powerful than the mouse, so he started worshipping the cat whom he had previously neglected. This continued for some time until one day the Brahmin's dog entered the room of worship. Seeing the attention that the cat was getting from his master, the dog became furiously jealous and violently attacked the cat. The unhappy cat was bitten and scratched all over and bled in many places. When the Brahmin considered the situation, it became quite clear to him that the dog was more powerful than the cat.

So he removed the cat from the place of worship and placed the dog there instead. He now began to worship the dog, who was tied with a rope to the shrine. The animal's continual barking, however, was a source of great irritation to the Brahmin's wife. One day in utter exasperation, she threw a brick at the barking dog. It landed on his head with a thump. The poor dog was in great pain and cried piteously over his wound.

The Brahmin, hearing the whimpering of the poor dog, came into the room, and seeing what had happened, concluded that it must be due to the superior power of his wife.

So he decided to let the dog go and to worship his wife. He said to her, "At long last I realize that you are the most powerful. Only you can be the object of my adoration."

The wife was thunderstruck at these remarks, to say nothing of being puzzled and embarrassed. How could she be the object of his adoration, she thought, since all her life she had been made to feel like his servant, constantly at his beck and call? She finally consented, however, since she had no alternative.

Now the Brahmin's wife had become his object of adoration and worship. He addressed her with words of devotion and praised her divine qualities. So devoted was he that he had the impulse to worship her even when she was asleep. He would awaken her and make her take her place at the shrine where he could adore her. Or if she were in the shower, he would call her to come out. No matter what she was doing she would have to stop and come to the shrine to be worshipped.

Finally the Brahmin's wife became so fed up with this farce that she told him the whole thing was nonsense. At this he became furious. "Nonsense?" he echoed. "How dare you criticize my wisdom?" And he yelled at her loudly. The poor frightened woman began weeping bitter tears. Now, seeing his own power, it became very clear to the Brahmin that he was the strongest of all. So he started worshipping himself, saying, "I am God, I am the greatest, I am everything."

But it did not take him much time to realize that he was merely a prey to his desires. It was his desires that were compelling him to action, either good or bad. So since his habit was to worship the most powerful force, he started worshipping his desires. But he quickly gave this up, for he saw immediately that his desires had no strength of their own. It was his senses that compelled the desires to possess and be possessed.

Then the Brahmin started worshipping the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. He was now pondering deeply on these subtle things which he was worshipping. After much thought, he concluded that it was the mind which was responsible for the functioning of the senses. So he began worshipping his mind, and felt proud that he had progressed so far from the ignorant animals he had worshipped only a few months before. But he found that his mind was far from satisfaction, and even farther from perfection. So he catered into his heart.

The heart, in spite of having peace and joy and harmony, was still lacking in absolute fulfillment. He was yearning for the supreme power. He concluded that the heart was not enough, so he entered into his soul.

There, in union with his own soul, he got the first glimpse of his divine fulfillment. He plunged deep into the spiritual life. But the individual soul, he found, is not all pervading or all fulfilling. He aspired for the highest. He went even deeper. Deep within, he discovered the Supreme Self.

Here, at the end of his journey, the Brahmin saw that the Supreme Self is the most powerful.

 

The Supreme Self, which has neither beginning nor end, is all pervading and all fulfilling. The Supreme Self, which is both Creator and Creation, is the Highest.

REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE

Baba said, "Let the world go topsy-turvy, you remain where you are." - Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 19.

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.

A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.

This made her parents very angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parents went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.

After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else the little one needed.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - that the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask his forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back again.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?"

WAY TO HAPPINESS - SHARING AND CARING

WAY TO HAPPINESS - SHARING AND CARING

 

Baba said, "Let us love and serve each other and be happy." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.18,19.

 

Once there were two neighbors who were friends and, at the same time, rivals. Both of them were very shrewd and miserly. At times they were absolutely, unthinkably undivine.

One day they decided to go on a pilgrimage. Their wives made up delicious baskets of food for them and they left very early in the morning.

After they had walked for two hours, it was breakfast time. One of them said, "Let us not stop for breakfast. We don't need to eat right now."

The other one said, "I agree. Let's keep walking and stop later for lunch instead."

So they continued walking. When lunchtime came, one of them said, "I'm not hungry. if you want to eat, go ahead, but I'm not hungry in the least."

The other one said, "I'm not hungry either. Let's walk until we are tired. Then we can stop and eat."

Both of them were perfect rogues. Each one thought that his own wife had made the best food and didn't want to share it with the other. Each one thought, "If we walk for some time, then my friend will become tired and fall asleep. Then I'll be able to eat my food all by myself. I don't want to share any of it with him."

They walked until it was evening and they were both very tired. After they stopped, each one was waiting for the other to fall asleep. They waited and waited. Finally, both of them fell asleep.

The following morning when they woke up, they saw that their food was crawling with ants. Instead of blaming themselves, they got mad at their wives! "We didn't check the food when they gave it to us. Now we find ants all over it. When we go home, we'll give them a piece of our mind," they agreed.

But they were still tired and decided to rest a while longer. When they woke up a few hours later, they found rats eating what was left of their food. They were so disgusted that they immediately went home and insulted and scolded their wives.

Their wives said, "Why didn't you eat the food we gave you during the day?"

Each one told his wife, "I didn't want to share any of your excellent food with that rascal. It took him so long to fall asleep that I fell asleep too."

Each wife told her husband, "Since both of you are so greedy and miserly, when you start on your pilgrimage again, I will give you simple food-a loaf of bread-which you can share with your friend. He will be pleased if you share it. Since you are traveling together, you can at least have this much friendship."

one wife made bread that was very salty and the other made bread with no salt at all. Since their wives had told them that the food was very simple, both men were extremely generous. One of them said, "I am sure your wife is a good cook. Let's exchange food." The other one said, "That is an excellent idea." So they exchanged their food and started eating. The one who got the salty bread said, "Your wife can't cook."

The other one responded with, "Your wife can't cook. There's no salt in this bread. It's tasteless."

The first man said, "My wife is an excellent cook."

The other one said, "Your wife. Then how is it that she forgot to put salt in the bread?"

The first one said, "How is it that your wife put too much salt in her bread?"

They continued to fight until their pilgrimage came to an end, and again they went home and insulted their wives.

Each of them said to his wife, "You made horrible food. I was ashamed."

Their wives said, "We thought that you were good friends. If you had shared your food with each other, there would have been no problem. One loaf of bread had too much salt and the other had no salt. If you had shared, it would have been delicious for both of you."

The husbands learned an important lesson from their wives: When you share with your friends, you will lead a more fulfilling life.