God, Save Me From Doing Any Evil!

God, Save Me From Doing Any Evil!

He sent a message to Baba: "I am weary of bearing this pain. How many abscesses do I have on my body! I do not have the strength to bear this. Throughout my life I have acted correctly. Why should I have to undergo this painful condition? I have never deviated from the path of righteousness. Why should I be punished and for what sin? - Shri Sai Samartha Satcharita, Ch. 34, Ovi 54-55 

Relating the same message in the following narration. Few days ago, I visited a sick woman; she is not learned in the lore of books. She had severe backache, excruciating pain at the base of the spine. She could neither sit nor stand, neither bent nor walk. Despite it all, there was a smile on her face as she said to me, "I must have done something during one of my earlier births to deserve this condition. Perhaps, I have beaten someone on the back with a stick. God save me from doing any evil in this birth." This is the prayer of everyone who believes in the Law of Karma, "God, save me from doing any evil!" And if this becomes the prayer of every man woman in India, this ancient, unhappy land will become new and India will shine, once again, in the splendour of the new morning sun. The root of exploitation, social injustice and mal-administration is in the thought; I will get away with it! Once I know that in this open universe I cannot get away with anything, I shall be careful to see that there is no evil in my thoughts and actions. 

I do an evil deed in the dark of the night, I say to myself, "No one saw it, I shall get away with it!" The Law of Karma tells me, it is true, no one saw it. But the seed has entered the field of life. The field of life has registered it. And one day or the other, today, tomorrow or in a distant future, out of the seed will grow a tree whose fruit will have to be eaten by you! Therefore, beware and do your daily work in the ever living presence of God! 

This was the teaching that was given to every student in ancient India. There is an aft-repeated story of a guru and two disciples who came to him seeking admission to the ashram. The guru gives them a simple test. He passes on a coconut to each one of them and instructs them to break the coconut where no one may see them, and return with the broken pieces. One of the students enters a dark and solitary cave and finding no one watching, breaks the coconut and within no time returns with the pieces to the guru. The other student returns only after sunset and that, with coconut intact. His friend says to him, "Why did you not accompany me? There were so many caves. I entered one of them. You could have entered another and broken the coconut. Nobody would have seen you." At this, the other friend replied, "I entered cave after cave, but wherever I went, just as I was about to break the coconut, I found that He was watching me. God was watching me! There was not a nook or a corner where God was not!" 

How many of us line this consciousness? This is an ancient interpretation of ancient, eternal law. But how many of us live up to it? 

If only we lived in the thought of God is watching us, exploitation, social injustice and mal-administration would be completely eradicated from the country.