Divine Wisdom

 

Trials and Tribulations

 

Having come to Bhagawan, what should our paradigm be with regard to trials and tribulations? Bhagawan reminds us today with simple and memorable examples.

"Do not grieve that the Lord is testing you and putting you to the ordeal of undergoing them. For it is only when you are tested that you can assure yourself of success or become aware of your limitations. You can then concentrate on the subjects in which you are deficient and pay more intensive attention, so that you can pass in them too, when tested again. 

Many grieve: “It is said darshanam papanashanam (the holy vision of the deity leads to destruction of sin); well, I have had darshan not once but many times, yet, my evil fate has not left me and I am suffering even more than formerly.” True, they have come and have had darshan and they have sown fresh seeds secured from this place, seeds of Prema (Love), Shraddha (Faith), Bhakti (Devotion), Satsanga (Good company), Sarveshwara-chinta (Thoughts of God), Namasmarana (Remembering God’s Name), etc., and they have learnt the art of intensive cultivation and soil-preparation. They have now sown the seeds in the well-prepared fields of the cleansed hearts. 

Now, until the new harvest comes in, they have to consume the grain already stored in previous harvests. The troubles and anxieties are the crop collected in previous harvests; so do not grieve, and lose heart."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Maha Shivaratri - February 1963_

Difficulties may come in succession like mountains, but they will disappear like snow if Divine Grace is there. – BABA

May All Living Beings in All the Worlds be Happy

 

The Little I

 

The Little "I" That Swami Removed

Swami's grace often reaches us after quietly removing the invisible obstacles within us. Sometimes those obstacles are fear or doubt. At other times, they are the subtle ego that makes us believe, "I achieved this."

A brilliant final year student at Swami's university was preparing for the MBA entrance examination. During Darshan, Swami lovingly asked about his preparations. The student confidently replied, "I am prepared. I will do well. I am sure I will get through." Swami smiled and moved on without saying a word.

The student performed excellently in the written test, group discussion, and viva. Yet, when the results were announced, his name was missing. Heartbroken but filled with faith, he decided not to seek admission elsewhere. Instead, he prayed to Swami every day, trusting that only Swami could decide his future.

After eleven days, Swami called him for an interview and said, "Today I will tell the Registrar to give you the seat." Exactly as promised, the student was admitted.

A year later, the Registrar revealed the real story. The student's name had originally been on the selected list, but before it was announced, Swami instructed, "Remove his name. I shall give him the seat later."

Only then did the student understand Swami's divine lesson. His admission had never been in doubt. Swami had only removed the subtle pride hidden behind the repeated "I." Once that little ego dissolved, the blessing was given as pure grace.

The lasting lesson is simple. Success is never ours alone. When the little "I" disappears, we realize that everything, including our abilities and achievements, is Swami's gift.

Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu

Sanctify Your Lives

 

"The body is the basic instrument for the practice of right action (dharma).  Dedicate your entire time to service and the discharge of your duties.  Your spiritual practice (sadhana) must not be for selfish ends.  It must promote the good of others.  By giving up selfishness and cultivating selfless love for others, sanctify your lives."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(July 7, 1990)

Divine Directions

Baba's Storytime - A Shirdi Event Revealed

 

There was a judge who used to come to Shirdi; he asked his wife and child to stay with Baba and left to go home for a couiple of days. He said to the boy when he took leave, "This is God Himself". 

After some days the mother left for Manmad with the boy. There, they fell in with a kathak who was reciting musically some Purânic story. Within a few minutes, they heard him revile Sai Baba as a mad man and a cheat; the child could not stand it any longer. He tugged at the sari of his mother and forced her to return to Baba. 

Next morning, they approached Baba for His blessings and He asked them why they had returned. The incident of the kathak was duly reported. The boy heard every one addressing Baba as the Lord. Remembering the harsh words of the kathak, the boy wept, But Baba pacified Him humorously, "I am only a man. What the kathak said is true; I am mad and I am cheating people of what they consider very valuable, but what I feel is useless". 

Then, even as they were talking, one Mr. Patel came there and related how Baba had saved his child from a serious accident. Baba told him, "Yes, I held him when he fell, with My Four Hands". Patel shed tears of thankfulness, but the boy cried out, "Ah, I told you, You are God, You have four hands like Vishnu". Baba laughed, He took the boy inside and gave him a vision of Himself, as having Four Hands.

That boy stayed on in Shirdi for 26 years after this and left only after Baba 'left'. He then took sannyâsa and became a great sage.

(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)

Sai Blossoms

 "Do not cause pain to others by using harsh words.  In fact others are not others but your own self, as the same principle of Atma is present in all.  The one who causes pain and the one who suffers from it are one and the same."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(July 5, 2001)

If Everything is an Illusion

 

Every Day

Every day is a blissful journey when Sai is by your side 

Every day our prayers are answered when in Sai we confide 

Every day the heart grows with devotion- 

when the love of God expands within 

Every day can be pure and sweet when the thought of Sai is all 

Every day He guides our footsteps when we answer to His call 

(English bhajan)