A Rare Miracle

 

One day, when we were all walking towards the Chitravati, Swami suddenly disappeared.  While we were searching for Him, we heard a clapping sound and looking up, we found Swami alerting us, "I am on top of the hill."  It was six in the evening.  The sun had softened the streams of its rays and was sinking towards the west.  The sky was filled with black clouds as if it were wrapping itself in a thick blanket.  Swami said, "You all look at me.  I shall show you the sun."

Even as we were thinking, "How can the sun come back after it has already set?", we saw newly rising rays behind Swami's head.  The whole sky was filled with blue clouds.  The rays began to turn red till they looked fiery and exuded so much heat as to make us all sweat profusely.  The rays were intensely hot as if coming from the scorching midday sun.  Unable to bear the heat, we all made loud appeals, "Swami, it is too hot."  The heat subsided.

We were just setting down, when Swami's voice came down to us from the top of the hill.  "I shall show you the Moon."  We saw behind Swami's head, the half-unfolded honey-coloured rays of the moon.  They soon turned white - whiter and whiter still.  That was that. We began shivering in the cold.  Our bodies became stiff.  Our teeth began to chatter.  "Swami!  Cold!  It's very cold, Swami!"  As we were imploring Him thus, the cold slowly subsided.

While we were wondering what other miracle He would perform, He announced, "I shall show you the Third Eye.  Watch it very carefully and attentively."  "Third eye!  How does it look?" we wondered.  Swami's body was not visible.  But His head appeared gigantic, as if it were stretched across the entire sky.  Stupefied, great bewilderment filling our minds, we stared at the sky.

On Swami's forehead, between His two eyebrows, an orifice appeared.  Fiery, fuming sparks began to come out of the opening.  Our eyes were dazzled by the brilliance of those sparks.  We were scared.  More than fear for ourselves, we were worried about what might be happening to Swami.

The sparks continued to gush out.  When we looked back, we found that many had fallen down, unconscious.  We did not know what made them faint.  That scared us further.  We looked up but could not find Swami anywhere.  Feeling lost and not knowing what to do, we began weeping.  Suddenly, we found Swami standing in our midst.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from "Anyatha Sharanam Nasthi _ Other Than You Refuse There is None" by Smt. Vijayakumari)

Quotable Quotes

 “Our capacity to make peace with another person and with the world depends very much on our capacity to make peace with ourselves. If we are at war with our parents, our family, our society, or our church, there is probably a war going on inside us also, so the most basic work for peace is to return to ourselves and create harmony among the elements within us - our feelings, our perceptions, and our mental states.”

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh ~

Spiritual Practices

What are the true manifestations of the spiritual practices we undertake? 

"There are many sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) who enjoy perfect calmness and equanimity while sitting in meditation or while in the Puja room before the shrine. But once they rise and come out into the open, they behave like demons. The Gita says, Satatam yoginah - Be in Yoga, always. Be immersed in love, with no trace of pride or envy. This is the highest Sadhana. 

At the present day, all grades and groups of people all over the world resort to violence and hatred in order to satisfy their desires and demands, bringing about fear, anxiety, panic and revolution. The gains through such tactics are not much; the gains will be greater and more lasting if the path of love, tolerance and peace is followed. 

Love brings people together; hatred drives them apart. You cannot be happy when you cause misery to others. God showers grace when the nine steps of bhakti (devotion) are observed. Masters or rulers can be won over by the same means - sacrifice, love, devotion, and dedication in the path of duty. When success is achieved by means of unrest and violence, it has to be preserved and prolonged only by further unrest and violence."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

 (Divine Discourse - February 20, 1974)

When there is no desire to warp the mind, Love could be true and full. – BABA

Contemplate on God

 

"Bhajan means to contemplate on God.  That alone gives us peace and happiness.  Peace and happiness are not separate from each other.  They can be attained only through contemplating on God."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(February 25, 2009)

Sai Madhuryam

 

Like a feast to a starving man,

Like rain for the parched earth,

Like a child to one yearning for a son

The Lord comes to protect Dharma

And save the virtuous and the good.

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

Divine Wisdom

 

Sai Blossoms

"I am giving you three maxims that you have to bear in mind: service, service, service.  Never forget the duty to serve.  For this, you have to develop love.  To develop love, you have to promote the spirit of sacrifice."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(March 7, 1997)

 

Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

"Dedicate your heart to God; God will be one with you, the heart of your heart. Do not exaggerate the creation and the manifestation of the Linga; it is only the manifestation of an atom of My majesty. In Me, who can create worlds, and fill the Universe, there are things more worthy of adoration; universal love, the teaching of dharma (virtue), the revival of the Vedas, the fostering of the good, the benediction on sadhakas (spiritual aspirants)."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

 (SSS Vol. 8)

Bhagawan You Love Us So

 

Bhagawan, You love us so, 

Much more than we can ever really know. 

Bhagawan, You're with us here and now 

To this wonderous Presence let us bow. 

Sathya Sai is calling us today 

To live as God, and Love is the Way.

(English bhajan)

Baba's Storytime - The Blanket of Maya and the Bear

The Atma Tattwam is one and indivisible. 

On the bank of a river, once a group of children were tending their cows. It was the monsoon and all of a sudden a furious current of water developed. Because it was a fast current, one bear, which slipped into the water, was drawn into the midstream and was being carried away.

One of the boys looked at the floating mass, and from a distance, it appeared to him to be a bundle of blankets floating in the water. He said to his companion. "I shall jump into the water and get the blanket out", and he jumped into the water. 

With the mistaken idea that it is a bundle of blankets, the boy embraced with his hands the bear. Then the bear also embraced him with its own hands. However much the boy tried to extricate himself, the bear did not leave him. It held him fast. The boys on the shore shouted: "Oh my dear companion, leave the bundle and you come away." The boy in the water, struggling to escape, cried out: "Though I want to escape from it, it does not allow me to escape."

So in this river of life, mâyâ plays like the bear and we mistake it to be a bundle of blankets. Hoping that it would offer us solace, comfort and happiness, we jump into the river and try to catch it. At a later stage when we want to extricate ourselves from it, we find it impossible to do so. 

This illusion is created by mâyâ but the divine principle is always one. Visistadvaita has been teaching from time immemorial that though the forms are different, there is only one Purusha, which is the unity in the diversity and multiplicity of forms.

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