Precious Closeness of Bhagawan - Pt.1

This is the transcription of the talk delivered by Sri B Arvind in the divine presence of Bhagawan Baba on the 29th of July 2005.

Offering my Humble Pranaams at Bhagavan's Lotus Feet. Beloved Bhagavan, esteemed elders, dear brothers and sisters.

The Message of the Messiah

Once upon a time there was a Messiah who had come to Earth. After spending a long period on Earth, he decided that he would quit. So he went on top of the mountain and told everyone present, "Listen, today I am going to quit. I am no longer a Messiah." 

Hearing this, the people were shocked. They said, "You can't quit! If you leave us, how will we communicate with God? How can we keep in touch with Him? So you can't do this!" 

He said, "Listen, you're a fisherman; when you get tired, you don't go fishing. You are a manager; when you get tired, you don't go to work. I am a Messiah, and I don't want to do it anymore so I am quitting."

The people could not convince him. And so, they said, "Before you quit, please give us one message from God. A message following which our lives will be fulfilled – the greatest and the most wonderful lesson that God has to give us.

The world always looks for compactness, shortcuts. They asked this from the Messiah. They said, "Before leaving, do this much for us." He said, "So you want to know what God wants you to do?" They all chorused, "Yes!"

"Okay, I will tell you. But are you ready to follow it?"

They said, "Yes! We are ready to follow it, even if it means giving up our lives, even if it means giving up our wives, our children, our husbands, our relations, everyone. We are ready!"

He said: "Think again. Are you ready?" They said, "Yes, even if it means going through the fires of hell. Even if it means getting crucified upside down. We are ready to undergo any torture, any amount of sadness for God."

The Messiah smiled and said, "Listen…God wants you all to be happy!"

And there was a stunned silence.

Brothers and sisters, we are all ready to suffer for God. We are all ready to undergo pain for God. But are we ready to be cheerful for God? To be happy for God every moment of our lives? What is it that we want in our lives? We want to be happy every moment. And what is it that God wants from us? He wants us to be happy every moment. Then where is the problem? Why are we not happy every moment of our lives?

This has been answered in various ways, in various scriptures, by various religions. And I feel that being in the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, this is the greatest gift we receive: the gift of this higher learning; learning how to be always happy.

(To be continued)

(Source: "Experiences by Devotees of Sri Sathya Sai Baba)