Facets
of Truth
Baba has, as
the main plank of His Mission among men, the
revival of Dharma,
by which He means the Sanathana
Dharma,
which is universal and eternal. Baba has come to
fuse, not to refuse or confuse! Sanathana Dharma
belongs to the whole world; that is why Baba is
worshipped by His devotees with the Name, "Sarva
Mathasammathaya Namah", "Prostrations to Him to
whom all religions are equally
acceptable". [see
also: The 108 Names of Bhagavân Sri Sathya
Sai Baba]
When
I approached Him for directions about a cover
design for the 1967 Sivarathri Special Number of
the Sanathana
Sarathi
Magazine, Baba seized His pen and drew on a
piece of paper a five disked design, with petals
in between, enclosing a circle, inside which I
could print His own portrait. On the disks, He
Himself drew the symbols of the major religions
of mankind: The Pranava or Om to indicate the
Hindu faith; the Wheel to symbolize the religion
taught by the Buddha; A sheaf of flames, the
Sacred Fire, which the Zoroastrians worship; the
Crescent and the Star, as a reminder of Islam,
and the Cross as the symbol of Christianity! He
said, "All faiths are facets of the same Truth,
which can be spelt as Love or as Purity or as
Charity or as Sacrifice or as Surrender of the
Will. Even those who deny God or decry morality,
love some one or some thing; they speak the
truth so that they may be believed; they have to
be pure so that they may satisfy their
consciences and the conventions of society. They
seek peace and joy. That truth, that love, that
peace, that joy is God" Baba says. His Grace is
so vast and limitless that He claims the whole
world to be His mansion, every state being but a
hall within it. [See:
About Sai Baba]
This is the
reason also for the emergence of the
'Linga'
from Him at Sivarathri. For, the Linga is the
most universal symbol of God, the simplest, the
most easy to comprehend and transcend. It is the
Form emanating from the Formless. The Linga
creates itself in Him; He creates Himself in the
Linga!
That is the
miracle at Kothnaghatta, a tiny little
Puttaparthi, nestling behind the colossal
monolithic image of Gomateswara on Indragiri at
Sravanabelagola, in Mysore. Two boys of this
village heard of Baba and braved the long
journey with borrowed funds. Baba spoke lovingly
to them and filled them with cheer. But, He told
them, "I am always in your village; you can have
Darsan
there itself; why should you come here?" The
boys went back with sad hearts, saturated with
the devotional songs sung during Bhajans at the
Nilayam. They collected a few
ryots
of the village and sang the songs at the village
temple.
That temple
had a Linga installed in it, a marble one,
brought by a villager of the place who had gone
to Kasi, a hundred years ago. He had brought two
such from the Narmada river and built temples
for them, one in his own village and another at
Kantharajapura, nearby. He endowed them with
lands, had rest-houses and wells constructed for
the use of pilgrims and annuities for the
priests. The Linga at Kothnaghatta stands about
12 inches high, over the pedestal. Daily worship
is offered on
Sastraic
lines since the Inauguration, a century ago.
When the boys sang, the elders sat on the fringe
and wondered who this Sai Baba was. The boys
told them about the Sai of Shirdi and the Sai of
Puttaparthi and about the peace that one can
bring in plenty from Prasanthi Nilayam! Very
soon, the priest noticed something inside the
image, some new lines and colours, some outline
being filled up day by day and the boys wondered
what it was to be. Within a week, they saw two
pictures, clearly within the marble Linga - we
too can see them now - a picture of Sathya Sai
Baba, (half-body facing us, with a garland round
the neck) and a picture of Sai Baba of Shirdi
(side view, sitting at Dwarkamayi, with black
beard, and cloth tied round the head)! It is
over a year since the transformation came; we
can see Them both in that marble
home.
Baba has
granted many gem-set rings with the blessing,
"You can see Me inside this stone" and, one can
take Darsan of Him in those gifts. But, this
manifestation is in a public temple where all
can see and strive, know and need, the
twice-embodied Almighty, for ever and ever! Baba
himself has directed many people to go to
Kothnaghatta and have Darsan. His Birthday is
celebrated there by the villagers in grateful
grandeur. To stand before that shrine of
Sai-linga is to be confirmed in the Sai Faith;
it is a baptism of Bhakthi,
for the wavering and the willfully blind. Baba
is in every Linga, in every idol that is
worshipped by man; all Lingas, all idols
worshipped by man are in Him - that is the
message that the birds on the temple tower chirp
to the pilgrims at
Kothnaghatta.
Sivarathri,
1967, was on the 9th March. Baba said that
morning to the huge gathering, "The Ganga is a
holy river, every inch of its flow, from
Gangothri to the sea; but, some spots along its
bank, like Hardwar, Prayag, Varanasi and
Dakshineswar are held to be specially holy, on
account of association with historical
incidents, or installed temples. So too, though
every day is holy in this Prasanthi Nilayam (and
in the Prasanthi established by you in your own
hearts and homes), the Sivarathri is specially
so, on account of the emergence of the Linga
from the Living Siva". That night, when the hour
of emergence was announced by the first sings of
cough, 30.000 hearts pounded quicker; they
prayed to Siva more intensely, as they watched
Baba on the Santhi Vedika. A deep pink oval
Linga, four inches in length, the Viswalinga,
with the orbits of planets luminous inside it,
and a few minutes later, a smaller one the
Jyothirlinga, emerged from the mouth of Baba.
[
See also: Cities
aflame]
The celebrations connected with the Festival
continued till the 12th, and on the 13th, 14th
and 15th, Baba was engaged in healing and
attending on the sick, the infirm and the old
among the pilgrims who had come.
"Endeavor every moment to see good, hear good,
speak good and do
good",
He exhorted. "Practice some Sadhana-Dhyanam,
Japam,
Bhajan,
Namasmaran.
Take but one step forward, I shall take ten
towards you. Shed but one tear in penitence, I
shall wipe hundreds from your eyes".
The
Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Bombay and the
Maharashtra Branch of the Prasanthi
Vidwanmahasabha entreated Baba to spend a few
days at Bombay and Baba graciously agreed. He
reached Bombay on the 16th March, by car. The
students of the Sathya Sai Vedasastra Patasala,
Prasanthi Nilayam, about 60 little boys, also
left in an omnibus. Baba took the same route as
the bus, in order to be present wherever the
boys halted for food on the way; He caressed
them lovingly like a mother and attended to the
demands of their curiosity and wonder about the
areas through which they passed. They saw the
famous ruins of the Vijayanagar Empire at Hampi,
scene of Baba's own boyhood miracles, and the
temple of Virupaksha (where Baba had given
Darsan to his brother and others as Virupaksha
Himself) and the mammoth monolithic images of
Ganesa and Narasimha
[see
also: The Rhythm of His
Feet]
- all under the guidance of Baba Himself. The
boys staged two musical plays at Bombay, plays
written by Baba specially for them, full of His
own strengthening message of courage, based on
the inherent divinity of man.
Radhabhakthi
is an elevating play, full of popular lilts and
folk dances, which delineate the pure devotion
of the simple cowherds towards Krishna who had
captured their hearts to the exclusion of
everything else. It rescues the reputation of
Radha from the absurd erotic calumny to which
low tastes have subjected her. The play centers
round the Festival organized at Brindavan to
celebrate the raising of the Govardan Peak by
Krishna in His boyhood. Krishna accepts the
invitation of the cowherds who yearn to see Him
and pay homage to Him. Nanda and Yasoda, His
foster-parents are also happy that they can
feast their eyes on Him. Preparations are made
by the cowherds to receive Krishna, who brings
the noble Rukmini with Him, but, not the other
Queen, Sathyabhama. She is too jealous of the
attachment that Radha has for her own Lord. At
Brindavan Radha is forced to remain indoors, for
she was a wild sprite, running hither and
thither in search of a treasure she has lost!
But, Krishna halts before her door and, when she
is brought before Him, He elucidates the true
nature of Divine Love, of which she was the
purest representative.
Baba does the
task of
Dharma-sthapana
through many channels: direct teaching, writing,
discoursing, exhorting, explaining,
strengthening props of Dharma (like temples,
holy places and pundits) cleansing the ancient
texts which have been tarnished by the slush of
time and by the touch of slimy pens.
Radhabhakthi is an instance of this expurgation.
The
Bhagavatha
Vahini
He is writing in the Sanathana Sarathi, gives
the pellucid curative stream which the
Bhagavatha originally was, before it received
the contaminating inflow of
interpolations.
The play on
Sakku Bai which the boys enacted at Bombay was
also a pleasant surprise, for, Baba has depicted
in it, through dance drama and song, the message
of 'grief being the kindest Guru'. The scene
where the 'idols' of
Panduranga
and Rukmayi come alive and converse on the
plight of Sakku and the implications of her
sufferings is a fine lesson in the Philosophy of
Grace. His Excellency the Governor of
Maharashtra said, while congratulating the
little boys on their creditable performance,
"You are the emissaries of the great culture of
this land".
Baba addressed
mammoth gatherings at King's Circle and at the
Vallabhabhai Patel Stadium, and, lit in the
hearts of all who heard Him, the lamp of
Jnana.
"Fire and Water, in conjunction, produce steam,
which can haul heavy wagons along.
Karma
and Upasana,
likewise, produce Jnana, which can haul you,
with the heavy load of the consequences of the
thoughts, deeds, and words of many previous
careers on earth, to the Lord
within."
Students
predominated at the Stadium on the 21st March
and Baba gave them good advice. "Like the tiger
which refuses grass, however hungry it may be,
man must refuse to descend to the low levels of
scandal, cruelty, and miserliness. The greed and
selfishness that are infecting this country are
tragedies for humanity, for, India has the role
of guiding and leading mankind to the goal of
Self-realization. Youth in India is growing up
in the hot-house of faction and passion, not as
in the past, in the cool bowers of reverence and
humility. Elders indulge in fratricidal fights,
vengeful litigation, corrupt means of earning
money and cut-throat competition; their low
behavior in the home, in the village, in the
clubs, in the civic bodies, in the legislatures,
in all walks of life sets the standard for
youth! Indian culture, which is really
international in its outlook, has to be taught
and lived in the schools and colleges of India,
so that India and the world can be happy and
content", Baba said.
Baba takes
special interest in youth, for, on them rests
the burden of upholding dharma. Keeping them
close to Him, He moulds them into instruments of
service and images of sadhana.
He grants them Grace and wins their loyalty.
Then, He tells them, out of His unbounded Love,
"You are all My limbs, nourished by Me. You
constitute the Sai Body. Sai will send you
sustenance, wherever you are, whatever your
function, provided you give Sai the things Sai
considers desirable, like virtue, faith,
discipline, humility, reverence." It is
difficult to resist this call.
Baba has
planned study circles in schools and colleges
for the study of the scriptures and sacred
texts, in the context of present aspirations and
handicaps; He has advised the recruitment and
training of groups of young men and women in the
disciplines of
Japam
and
Dhyanam
as well as the technique of tending and
nourishing the sick and the distressed. "Members
of this Sathya Sai Seva Dal must be saturated
with devotion to God and service to Man, the
'Terminus' and the 'Starting point' of the
pilgrimage called life. The Dal must be eager to
serve, and able to serve intelligently,
sincerely and gladly", He advised. Baba
encourages devotees to arrange for religious and
moral instruction classes in schools, on the
wide bases of
Sanathana
Dharma;
He recommends the establishment of hostels where
students can imbibe the disciplines of Yoga and
Sadhana, while prosecuting their studies in an
atmosphere of silence and serenity.
At
King's Circle, the Stadium, and at the Bungalow
where He stayed at Andheri, Baba ceaselessly
carried on His Mission of Mercy, showering His
Grace on the sick, the old, the mentally
deranged, the social outcast, the froth and the
dregs of this civilized age. He stepped down
from the decorated dais and the silver chair and
moved slowly along the passages, in between the
seated men and women, seeking out those who
needed His attention and acknowledging by the
Abhayahastha,
the homage of the people. He also found time to
solve the spiritual problems and even personal
tangles of persons who approached Him for
guidance and blessings. He graciously responded
and sanctified the homes of devotees; the homes
were often on the upper floors of liftless
chawls [tenement] or mansions but, He
climbed up and descended many stairs a day, with
the alacrity springing out of unbounded Love.
Entering the home, Baba joked and laughed,
appreciated and warned, fondled and gave gifts
to every member of the family, for He is friend
and father, teacher and mother, guardian and God
for the households that seek
Him.
On the 27th
March, Baba left by plane for Jamnagar,
Saurashtra. This was a welcome chance to the
airport staff at Bombay and Jamnagar to touch
the Feet which millions covet to hold. On the
flight, Baba drew the attention of persons who
were with Him, to the charming scenes on sea and
land, painted by the Master-artist for His own
delectation. Saurashtra is studded with Sathya
Sai Study Circles and Bhajana Mandalis; Baba had
showered His Grace on that land even when He was
at Shirdi, and now that He has come again, He
had drawn the people in cities and villages so
close to Him, by concrete evidence of His
Presence and Benevolence, that it was fast
changing into Sairashtra. When I asked some one
at Jamnagar the reason for the unprecedented
streams of men and women that flooded the area
where the Public Meeting was to be held, he
answered, "In every village, here-abouts, Baba
has announced His Presence and Grace by
indisputable signs, like the spontaneous
appearance of Vibhuti showers in the shrines
where He is worshipped!"
Baba stayed at
the Amar Vilas Palace Guest House and was
welcomed there by the Raja Matha of Jamnagar. He
came out on to the porch many times until long
after midnight in order to give Darsan to
hundreds who surged around. At Jamnagar, Baba
opened a spacious building which will serve as
the headquarters of the Sathya Sai Seva Samithi;
He then moved into the vast pandal which was
filled to overflowing, devotees spilling on to
the fields for furlongs on all sides. Noticing
some sick children, Baba created the
Vibhuti
Panacea for them and thrilled the assembly by
this evidence of His Mercy and Power. He
returned to the dais and sang a few Namavalis
which the people repeated after Him.
[Listen
to this prayer sung by Baba: Anthuleka
MP3 /
Text
Prayer]
He spoke
to them about the need to feed the spirit, as
they feed the body; the food of the spirit is
'Japam, Dhyanam, Nama-smarana', He said. After
the meeting, Baba met the members of the Seva
Samithi, and directed them to work in unison,
without any sense of ego. "No man can claim to
have achieved this or that, for all are but
instruments in the hands of the Lord," He
said.
At dawn on the
28th, Baba left Jamnagar by car for Bhavnagar,
stopping at Rajkot on the way, to give Darsan to
thousands who had assembled there. He sang a few
Bhajans and spotting some sick people, Mercy
induced Him to give them Vibhuthi, created on
the spot. The dailis Jai Hind and Phul Chhab had
taken the news of Baba's journey to all the
wayside villages before the sun rose that day
and so Baba had to halt every few miles to
enable the villagers to feast their eyes on the
Lord they adored. Baba's hand was waving
Abhayam
all the way from start to
finish.
Baba reached
the outskirts of Bhavnagar at about 11 A.M. The
citizens had planned to take Him in procession
in a floral car through streets bedecked with
floral arches and flanked by school children and
eager multitudes. But, since the town was
already too full of visitors, Baba saw that a
procession would add to the traffic problems of
the organizers. He announced that Darsan would
be given in an additional place, namely at the
Town Hall. We have often seen Baba taking charge
of such situations during His tours, when the
organizers are too overwhelmed by the magnitude
of the gathering to think calmly of the next
step. Baba stayed in the bungalow of Abdulla
Noor Mahomed at Takheswar. Baba gave Darsan to
the multitudes from the roof of the bungalow. He
came among them at 5 P.M., and addressed them
for over an hour. "Do not fall in love with the
world so much that you bring yourself again and
again into this delusive amalgam of grief and
joy" He said. You take up a newspaper and read
it; you find that the world is mad and foolish,
full of crooks and cranks; it is being made
every day safe only, only for hypocrisy; heroism
is futile and fame is momentary; you throw it
away, in disgust. So too, you must deal with
life. Realize that it is all a fantasy, a play,
a pantomime. Use the world as an instrument, as
a training ground for service, sacrifice and
winning liberation. Stand a little apart and
watch both the play and the Director who
produces it." Later, Baba laid the foundation
for the Sai Mandir of Bhavnagar City. On the
29th, Baba left by plane for Bombay, to return
again by car to Navsari, in Gujarat, on the 30th
March.
Navsari had
four times her population concentrated at the
place of the meeting! There was scarce standing
room for the masses, anxious to secure Darsan
and hear the Discourse of Baba. Baba moved along
the furlong long alleys between the thick crowds
to give them Darsan, but, devotion could not
keep the people in their compartments; they
moved forward to the dais, in order to have
nearer Darsan and could not be quietened into
the silence, needed for Bhajan.
So, Baba
proceeded to Baroda, to save the people from the
consequences of the stampede which they were
about to create. Twenty miles away, when His car
drove along, Baba heard Bhajan songs from about
4000 people sitting in an open space adjoining
the road. The devotees of Ubel had taken a vow
that they would be engaged in continuous Bhajan
for 12 hours, and they prayed that Baba should
come amidst them, of His own unsolicited Grace.
And, the vow yielded fruit. Baba was pleased at
their exemplary discipline; He alighted from the
car, moved among them and gave Vibhuti to a few;
He ascended the dais, sat for about twenty
minutes, and sang a few Namavalis for them to
repeat after Him; and, then, He walked back to
the car, unhampered by anyone trying to fall at
His Feet, and drove away. The Bhajan was
continued by the gathering until the determined
hour!
Baba spent the
night at Baroda. On the 31st March, He met the
members of the Baroda Sathya Sai Seva Samithi
and of the study circles of Jambusar and other
nearby villages. About 200 people had His Darsan
and quite a few, His gracious
Gift-Vibhuthi-created on the
spot.
Back on the
Bombay road the next day, the cars passed
Navsari and towards early afternoon, members of
the party were scanning the precincts of the
road for a mango tope, or a cluster of other
trees, where lunch could be spread and taken.
Baba seemed uninterested. He was signing to the
cars to move forward, until they came to a
school building, when Baba stopped and wanted
inquiries to be made, whether the school was
working. It was not; it had a hostel where some
students who had taken Agriculture as their
special subject, lived. Baba had the cars turned
into the hostel gates and He showered His Grace
upon the boarders. He gave to each of them His
photograph, Vibhuthi, and enough money for a new
set of clothes; meanwhile, students, members of
the staff, and villagers from miles around
gathered there and Baba spoke to them for about
half an hour. They all had the unique pleasure
of Darsan,
Sparsan
and
Sambhashana!
Baba later said, that He knew there was a
school, where He could give joy to many. Baba
says, no word of His is without significance; no
act of His is without benefit.
On the second
day of April, Baba was at Poona, where He
addressed a gathering of 20.000 on the grounds
of the M.E.S. College. On the 3rd, Bhajan was
held at the riverside bungalow (of Mr.
Banatwala) where He granted interviews to many
officers of the Armed Forces; the Andhra
Association welcomed Him in the evening, gave a
Discourse in their premises. He disclosed there,
what had transpired earlier. "I had a talk with
the headmasters of Poona, about moral and
spiritual training for boys and girls. An
institution will soon come up in Poona, where
parents, teachers and student leaders will be
trained to guide children along the right lines
through the teaching of the fundamental
principles of religion and morality; students
too will be trained there in
yoga
and
dhyana
so that they will grow strong and
straight."
Baba left
Poona on the 4th April and reached Prasanthi
Nilayam on the 7th, after a short stay at
Hyderabad. On the 10th April addressing the
devotees gathered to receive His new year
message and blessings, Baba declared that the
tour of Maharashtra and Saurashtra saw an
unprecedented flow of spiritual
delight.
On the 20th
and 21st days of April an All India Conference
of the office bearers of all organizations
bearing Baba's name was held at Abbotsbury,
Madras, in the immediate presence of Baba. This
was a historic event, pregnant with tremendous
potentiality for the uplift of Dharma. Nearly a
thousand delegates from all the states of India,
(and many countries overseas) gladly took part
in the conference. Basking for two days in the
sun of Baba's Glory they returned home charged
with a new enthusiasm and a strange thrill.
Representatives from each state came before the
gathering, at the request of Dr. B. Ramakrishna
Rao (President, All India Prasanthi
Vidwanmahasabha and formerly Governor of Kerala,
and Uttar Pradesh), who presided, and gave their
reports revealing the varied ways in which
devotion to Baba and His teachings was being
expressed, to suit the needs and solve the
problems of the people. Group meetings to sing
in chorus the glory of God was a common feature;
there were study circles to learn about Baba's
message and teachings, and attempts to bring
Indian culture and
Sanathana
Dharma
to the doors of the common man by means of
discourses by pundits; there was a traveling
pictorial exhibition depicting the illustrative
parables and metaphors which Baba uses to
clarify knotty problems in philosophy or
Sadhana, also three-day seminars on the 'winning
of Prasanthi in the context of the modern
world', which was held in more than five towns
in Mysore State.
The
President, All-India Prasanthi
Vidwanmahasabha,
Dr. B. Ramakrishna Rao addressing a Session.
Baba directed
that delegates from overseas also express their
views. The delegate from Hongkong said that the
group attending Bhajan and study sittings there,
was a miniature U.N.O. (United Nations
Organization) and that he had found great
enthusiasm for Yoga and Sadhana as well as
Namajapa in Japan. He said that the yearning for
God is still dormant and powerful in the Chinese
Republic and pressed for the translation of
books by Baba and on Baba into Chinese and
Japanese. The delegate from East Africa
described how the groups there had both
congregational prayer in the Prasanthi Nilayam
style and the study of Baba's works, as part of
their Sadhana. The delegate from Ceylon gave
instances of Baba's gracious presence in Ceylon,
as evidenced by indisputable experiences of
devotees and delighted the gathering by
declaring that Baba was in Ceylon as much as
anywhere else. The delegate from Norway
described the plight of people who have lost
faith in God and not acquired faith in man; he
spoke of his own hesitation to accept various
dogmas and of his study of Indian yoga and
philosophy. "On 25th February, 1965, when I was
sitting in front of the Samadhi at Shirdi, a
strange man in a blue shirt approached me with
the question, "Have you seen Sathya Sai Baba? If
there is God on earth, it is He. He is coming to
Bombay on the 14th March. You must see Him. This
is Vibhuthi from His Hand. This is His Picture."
That was how Baba called me towards Him, for, as
I knew later, on February 25th, the date of
Baba's reaching Bombay was known only to
Him!"
"When I sent
in a letter to Baba on the 14th March, when He
was in Gwalior Palace, Bombay, Mr. L.C. Java
took the letter quick and fast, saying, "Baba
told me an hour ago that a foreigner will come
with a letter which I should take to Him,
without delay!" 'We are all blessed', he said,
'for we have been selected to spread the news of
His advent and His message allover the
world'."
Dr.
Ramakrishna Rao said that the rapid advance in
science and technology with no corresponding
advance in moral strength (in fact, with a rapid
decline in morality and virtue), is posing a
crucial problem before mankind - the problem of
survival. The intelligentsia of India are
unaware of the roots of their culture and are
apologetic when confronted by ardent inquires or
purblind slanderers. Baba's insistence on
Sathya,
Dharma,
Santhi
and
Prema
is the only cure for the ailing world. Those who
have heard and understood His call have formed
in their own neighborhoods, associations and
societies, institutes and institutions to bring
together kindred minds for mutual inspiration.
But, this has happened in a haphazard manner and
so, Baba has brought us all together, so that we
do not stray away from the path of Sadhana; we
have to follow certain basic principles of
efficient and exemplary organization. Baba
declared that the most efficient publicity for
the Advent is done by the man who practices His
teachings and proves by his thoughts, words and
deeds that he is experiencing peace and joy
thereby. Just as the waters of a raging river
are regulated by the banks, the enthusiasm of
devotion has to be regulated by certain accepted
principles. But, in the framing of rules and
regulations, Baba said, people should not ignore
the raison
d'etre
of Sathya Sai Organizations - making everyone
aware of the joy, peace and wisdom, that he
truly has and is!
A Sathya Sai
Organization is only the reflection in the
members of the One Sai whom all adore. The more
clearly He is reflected, the greater the service
one can do. The conference appointed committees,
listened to the summaries of their
deliberations, and decided to follow certain
general guidelines - but, these were not its
chief gains. The chief gain was - Baba. He
persuaded, convinced, counseled, conversed and,
like a close comrade, conferred; He sat among
the delegates during breakfast, lunch and
dinner; He met them as district groups; He had a
solution ready for every difficulty; His smile
was coveted by all and was awarded to all. He
sat with them for photographs. He entered into
the heart of each. The universality and innate
validity of His teaching won enthusiastic
welcome.
"You
must serve others, because you can have no peace
so long as another is denied
peace;
you have to make every heart, including yours,
into a
Prasanthi
Nilayam;
work without despondency or pride; cooperate
with all who are good and selfless. Keep in
touch with all persons who trudge along the
pilgrim road to God, whatever the Name by which
they know Him, whatever the Form which they
attribute to Him, until they reach Him, and know
that He is all Names and Forms!" Baba exhorted
them. The delegates departed with the Blessings
of Baba reverberating in their ears, "March
forward as one united courageous band, searching
for the God who resides in every being and
worshipping Him by devoted
service."
On 22, 23, and
24 April, tens of thousands of people heard Baba
and a few scholars spoke at the Prasanthi
Vidwanmahasabha Sessions held in Madras. Dr.
V.K. Gokak, D. Litt., addressed Baba as a 'world
redeemer' and as a 'savior whose mercy beckons
every son of earth to God.' "The world has
ignored the unity of spirit and matter, it
believes that nothing matters, more than matter.
Real progress can come only when man seeks, not
information, but, transformation, and discovers
his own reality lying under thick layers of
error and illusion." [see
also: Cities Aflame, for a song by Dr.
Gokak]
On the 24th, Dr. S. Bhagavantham, D. Sc.,
Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence,
Government of India, spoke. He said, "It is a
rare privilege that anyone can get, to be
invited in whatever capacity to be on the same
platform as Bhagavân Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Baba has put me into many tribulations, even in
the province of science. Years ago, in one of my
first confrontations with Him, Baba said,
'Scientists have no faith in God, is it not?
You, in particular, have you any respect for the
ancient texts of this country? The Bhagavad
Gita, for example'? [See:
Geetha Vahini]
It hurt my pride. To establish the bona fides of
our tribe, I told Him of Oppenheimer and his
exclamation when the first experimental atom
bomb was exploded, "Divisurya sahasrasya...",
(*see
the complete sanskrit
verses*)
which he had learnt from the Bhagavad Gita. The
truly learned among the scientists, I said, are
aware of the wisdom of the ancient texts, the
Upanishads
and the Gita". "Do you like to have one?", He
asked me and took with His fingers some
particles of sand from the bed of the
Chitravathi river, where we were seated around
Him; the sand turned into a text of the Bhagavad
Gita, which He placed in my hands. I examined it
later to discover the name of the press, where
it was printed; needless to say, there was no
name on it. This was an utter denunciation of
the laws of physics for which I stand. He
performed a surgical operation before me,
creating knife, needle, bandage - all that was
needed. I was a fairly lost person at that
time"!
Dr. Gokak said
yesterday that Baba 'defied' the laws of physics
and chemistry! "He does not defy the laws; He
'transcends' them. He is transcendental. He is a
Phenomenon. He is Divine. This is the right way,
the safe way for me to get out of the dilemma.
We scientists are a very humble lot; every time
we have added a little to what we already know,
we have known that there are more things that we
have yet to know. Adding to knowledge is but
another name for adding to the area of
ignorance. As I am speaking, a man-made
contraption is digging into the moon, 90 million
miles away, a trench 18" long and 9" deep! We
know that only knowledge can be acquired, but
wisdom? That has to be got from Baba! Bhagavan
is our nearest kith and kin; turn to Him for the
eternal message. That alone will save
us".
During the
discourses that He gave on the three evenings,
Baba emphasized the importance of dedication, so
that activity may become meaningful and
conducive of happiness. He said that man must be
reminding himself of his essential Divinity, so
that he may not slide into the beast which
terrifies and gets terror-stricken.
Fear is something that can never afflict the man
who knows he is a spark of the
Divine,
He said.
From Madras,
Baba proceeded to the Nilgiri Hills, and after a
short visit to Calicut on the Arabian Sea Coast,
He proceeded to the Annamalai Hills, the home of
coffee and tea plantations, to inaugurate a High
School there, and reached Prasanthi Nilayam for
the
Guru Pournima
festival, which after the unforgettable
Siva-Sakthi miracle, has acquired an epochal
charisma! A week later, Baba left for Whitefield
and from there, He went up the Horsley Hills,
with a few devotees, to spend some time in that
quiet Hill Station, 4000 feet above the sea
level. It did not take long for the people of
the valleys all around to know that Baba was
shedding His luster in their midst; they went up
to Him in large numbers, during the fourteen
days of His stay and they were amply rewarded at
the Bhajan Sessions with Vibhuthi from His hand.
The small group of aspirants that Baba brought
with Him could get from Him, elucidation for the
many Gordian problems of Sadhana which they
placed before Him.
"You call them
miracles, but, for Me, they are just My way; you
cannot solve the mystery; for Me, they are no
mystery, they are part of My essential
Miraculousness", Baba says. Devotees at Horsley
Hills had many chances of experiencing the
Divine Mystery. While walking along a footpath
among the trees, Baba saw a jasmine creeper, and
plucking a flower, He breathed on it, became a
diamond of exceeding
brilliance!
Another day,
He gave a piece of granite, picked from the
ground to a devotee at hand; but, it was not the
stone that he received! The stone had turned
into sugar candy! Another day He created
rosaries and other sacred articles and gifted
them to the Sadhaks. He materialized a 'silver'
vessel full of the precious nectar, that He
alone knows how and when to 'prepare' and gave
each one a few drops of that Grace.
Howard Murphet
of the Theosophical Society with Mrs. Murphet
were with Baba at the Hills. He writes, "I was
not a cynic when I came to India. I know that I
was a skeptic, but, not an incurable one. My
approach has always been the cautious scientific
one. I needed to see and touch for myself, in
order to believe. Through a strange network of
circumstances, (which, I can only say, was due
to the Grace of Baba), I met Sai Baba! Baba was
kind to me. I saw and touched miraculous
incredible things; I have established to the
satisfaction of my critical self, that miracles
do take place. Actions speak louder than words.
The Word is powerful but, in the 'Word made
Flesh, we see its power dramatically. Then it
becomes a strong buttress for our tottering
faith."
While
exhorting the devotees one day, as Murphet
writes:
To
reach beyond the portals,
To where the Part is Whole,
Beyond all thought, all feeling,
Beyond the stars and sun,
Beyond the Cosmic Zero
To where all things are
One.
Baba created a
picture, which He gave to one devotee, of the
Cosmic Purusha, the Universe as a Person (the
Virat Swarupa)
[See:
SB, Canto 2, Chapter
1]
incorporating all gods and demons, all stars and
skies, all beings and becomings, including
Himself and the Previous Shirdi
Body!
Murphet
writes, "In all these, we must not lose sight of
the greatest miracle of all! This is the miracle
of His Prema - His Divine Love. While
Universal
(going out to all men) it is at the same time
Individual.
You feel it, beamed directly and blissfully on
You.
As one of his
Bhakthas
put it, 'Every person thinks that Baba loves him
most'. Yes. This pure love-universal, yet
individualized - is the central miracle, from
which all others come, as by-products. The main
end-product of this stream of Prema is to raise
us to a knowledge of our true spiritual Selves,
to a realization of our oneness with all life,
with the Author of all life. How few there have
been, through whom has flowed this miraculous
river of pure egoless love, with its attendant
whirls and eddies of lesser miracles! How lucky,
how blessed we are, to have known such a one on
earth and to be with Him
still!"
Baba says that
the world is not an empty, meaningless dream; it
is a purposeful play, with the plots within
plot. God plays the roles and so, be on the
watch! Recognize Him when you see majesty,
beauty, order,
harmony, melody on the stage. He wears many
masks to hide Himself. He says that His is also
a role now and that He plays it of His own free
Will!
Baba reached
Prasanthi Nilayam from Brindavan, Whitefield, on
the third day of July; the Murphets accompanied
Him thither, drawn by the Love that He showered
on them. Howard Murphet spoke on Baba at the
Prasanthi Nilayam on the 21st and on the 23rd.
Dr. Judith (Jyothi- priya) Tybarg of the
East-West Cultural Center, Los Angeles addressed
the residents; she had a long talk with Baba,
during which she asked Baba, whether movie films
of His miracles can be taken and shown, to
convince people of their authenticity. Baba
replied that doubts would still persist. It is
only by strengthening one's own faith, by
clearing the doubts in one's own mind, that one
can convince others. "Faith travels from one
mind to another." Baba then created some sweets
for the group, demonstrating that He had nothing
in His hand or up His sleeve. They came, through
His "Sankalpa, Resolve". They were not in the
hand, but, "in the head", He said. He revealed
Himself thus to Dr. Judith, for, she was an
earnest Sadhaka, soaked in devotion and
scholarship. Her arthritis had been miraculously
mitigated by Baba, who sent a few packets of
Vibhuthi for her use through a person who
returned to the U.S.A. from His Presence. He
told her, "I
am in all hearts. I am one with
all. But,
yet I never share their pain or their joy. I
never experience sorrow or anger. I am
Anandaswarupa (embodiment of bliss) and
Premaswarupa (embodiment of Love)". No wonder
that
Maharshi Mahesh
Yogi,
the chief proponent of transcendental
meditation, the holy man who has cast a powerful
spell over the youth of the West, ("We who are
tired of dead and decayed Western Culture will
follow His Holiness, our Master, to the grave,"
say, the hippies to him) wanted that Baba should
bless the leaders of the youth of the
world who are training themselves at
Sankaracharya Nagar, Hrishikesh, to become the
guides of Youth!
On 30th July,
Baba visited the College of Engineering at
Anantapur, about 60 miles distant from the
Nilayam. Baba pointed out to the vast gathering
of students and teachers that education has
degenerated into a course of training for mere
living, not for reaching the goal of life. It
teaches skills, confers scholarship, but, it
does not concern itself with the resources,
latent in the deeper levels of consciousness,
the springs of sympathy, service and
renunciation, the urge to return to the haven of
joy from which one has come away. Baba said that
man is being influenced by mass hysteria in all
countries, so that he is becoming hard in heart,
wooden in intelligence, and mechanical in mind.
Students must be taught the disciplines which
will enable them to encounter the stress of life
and struggle with the inner adversaries of lust,
greed, malice and hate. Baba stayed on for three
more days at Anantapur, presiding over the
Sessions of the Prasanthi
Vidwanmahasabha.
The fifth day
of August 1967, is a note worthy date in the
history of Prasanthi Nilayam, for, that day, it
was formally constituted into a separate
township with the Chairman and Members of a
Committee which will manage its civic
administration. Speaking about the village of
Puttaparthi from which the Township area was
separated that day, Baba said that there will
never be any trace of 'apartness' in the mind,
so far as He or the devotees were concerned.
"Brindavan belongs to all;
Govinda
is everybody's God", He said. He exhorted the
chairman and members to serve the residents, as
well as the other members of the Sai family who
come to the place, with love and
care.
Baba went to
Mandya (known as Sugar Town) at the invitation
of the Minister of Education of the State of
Mysore, on 20th August. There were at least a
hundred thousand villagers gathered in the vast
open spaces in and round the stadium. The
Minister said that he was happy that "so many of
my fellow-countrymen are enthusiastic to have
the Darsan of
Bhagavan
and to listen to His message. It augurs well for
the future of this nation". "You are
legitimately proud of the great temples in your
district built by great architects and sculptors
and master craftsman.
But, you must remember that these heights of
artistic excellence were reached by men in
music, sculpture, painting, poetry, drama,
architecture etc. only when skill was dedicated
to the God in
man",
Baba told them, in reply to their welcome
address.
During the
first week of September, Baba was so moved by
Prema
that He drove 400 miles by car to the bedside of
Dr. Ramakrishna Rao at Hyderabad, to confer on
him, during his critical illness, the
inestimable boons of Darsan,
Sparsan
and Sambhashana.
The last function Ramakrishna Rao attended at
the Prasanthi Nilayam (where his heart always
was) was the inauguration of the Township. He
was nominated by Baba as the President of the
All India Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha, for he was
a scholar and poet in many languages, and an
ardent devotee. While Governor of Kerala, he had
the honour of receiving Baba in that state more
than once; as Governor of Uttar Pradesh, he was
happy to accompany Baba to Ayodhya, Kasi,
Prayag, and Badrinath. He used to translate
Baba's Telugu discourses quickly and correctly
into Hindi.
Baba granted
him supreme contentment and joy, during the last
phase of his life. "I have got what I yearned
for", he repeated, when Baba came away from his
bedside. On 14th September, after midnight, a
few minutes before the end, he assured the
members of his family, "Baba will guard you, as
He has done so long". Then he uttered from the
depths of his heart, the sacred mantra, "Sriman
Narayana Charanou Saranam Prapadye (I take
refuge in the Feet of the Lord)", and attained
peace and liberation! Truly, a great Karmayogi,
who as the Gita teaches had through
Upasana
attained
Kaivalya
(Liberation) by the
Jnana
he earned!
It will be a
thrilling chapter, if one could collect and
compile the events of the last days of the
devotees of Baba, who have merged in Him. They
die in silent serenity, in prayerful surrender,
or in the midst of the
Bhajan
(see
also: Sai Baba on
Sankirtana)
they share, or during the recitation of
Pranava;
they get
Amrita
from nowhere and sip it as they die; they see
Baba before them with their departing sight and
leave, after prostrating to Him; they have
Vibhuthi emanating from their heads, in token of
His blessings! O, it is amazingly sweet and
heartening - the way in which Baba showers His
grace, when His devotees bid farewell, to the
bodies wherein they dwelt!
"I had read of
the great miracle-workers and teachers of
India's past; I hoped that some might still
exist today; Yet, hardly dared to hope, that I
might even meet one. For, underneath, like all
men, I longed for the 'many- splendoured thing'
that Francis Thompson says; the "estranged
faces miss", says Murphet". Among the many who
came to India from foreign lands on this search
were the Raymers, husband and wife, who heard of
Baba and came to the Nilayam and stayed there
continuously for over six months engaged in
Sadhana. When they went back, persons who had
already come under the influence of Indian yoga
and thought, through the teachings and
inspiration of Maharshi Ramana, Aurobindo,
Yoganandaji,
and
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda
gathered at their place or drew inspiration from
their example, to study Baba's work and do
Sadhana according to His directions. A large
number of people have come into his Sathya Sai
Satsang;
a few have come over to India to have Baba's
Darsan and Blessings. Charles Penn is singularly
fortunate, because though he has not yet come,
he is able to feel the constant Presence of
Baba, whether up in the sky searching for fallen
aircraft or down on the sea shore collecting
shells, or in his prayer room picturing His Form
in his heart! Baba sits before him, converses
with him, teaches him, answers his questions, as
clearly as if He is concretely present, across
the seven seas! The lessons are so
characteristic of Baba that their authenticity
is clear to all who know how Baba elucidates.
Moreover, when Penn sends the typescripts to me
for perusal or publication, I have often asked
Baba for further clarification and never once
has He disavowed His authorship; in fact, He has
justified certain new examples and parables that
He has told Penn at Los Angeles, on the score
that He had to explain things that way, since
the background of Penn differs from that of His
Indian listeners. "I give him the example of
daffodils, because there is a bed of daffodils
outside the shrine there", He said once. "I tell
him about strong breezes and sails and ships
because he knows about them, not you", He said
to me.
Indra Devi, a
Russian-born American citizen living in Mexico
with an Indian name, was directed to Baba by a
clairvoyant and later, more directly, by the
Murphets. She had learnt yoga in Mysore, from
Yogi Krishnamacharya; later she has lived in
Shanghai and given demonstrations of yoga in
Moscow; she has a yoga foundation at Tecate,
Mexico. She was to be introduced to President
Kennedy at Dallas, Texas, so that she could
present her books on yoga to him and tell him
about a few Asanas and deep-breathing exercises
which would make him physically fit for the
strain of the extraordinarily heavy presidential
schedule. But, she was shocked, along with the
entire world, when he was shot dead, a few hours
before the engagement! In order to exorcise
hatred from the human heart, she devised that
day a "Meditation crusade for light in
darkness", and came to India, where she had
learnt the elements of yoga and meditation. She
met the Murphets in April, 1966 and they sent
her to Prasanthi Nilayam! Baba gave her, as she
says, "more than kindness, more than goodness,
more than grace: Refuge: Abhaya,"
"Call Me whenever you need Me; I shall be with
you". "I felt a stream of brilliant light
pouring on me, giving me a tremendous sense of
joy and happiness, which filled my entire
being". 'Thank you, Baba', I whispered, in
gratitude. Carrying this radiant light, I
returned to Los Angeles and Tecate", she
wrote.
She was back
again in February, 1967, full of enthusiasm and
devotion for yoga, as a cure for the
frustrations of the world. Baba encouraged her
to train men and women residents of the Nilayam,
as well as the boys of the Vedasastra Patasala
in the
Asanas
of yoga and the technique of meditation. He was
Himself present on the two days, ready to
elaborate the reasons she gave for choosing the
Flame as the focus of meditation and to
elucidate other points which she felt essential
for the course. Contemplation on the Flame is
the ancient Vedic prescription, where the Lord
is described as a "straight streak of lightning
brilliance, in the center of the heart"; Baba
has the Param-jyothi or the Supreme Light, as
the crest and crown of the yoga-danda on the
Prasanthi Flag. In the Nilayam, during the
pre-dawn hours of meditation, a lamp, with its
steady flame, clear and bright, is used for
concentration. In the
Dhyana Vahini
written by Baba, He describes the Atma as, "the
Sun of Suns, the Effulgence of Effulgences; it
is the Supreme Light, the Swayamjyothi, the
Self-effulgent". Therefore, Baba appreciated the
crusade of Indra Devi and blessed it. He told
her of its implications and possibilities in the
context of the ancient Vedic prayer,
"Thamaso Ma Jyothir
Gamaya;
From darkness, lead me to
light".
In the book,
Prasanthi
Vahini,
written by Him years ago, He had explained it
thus:
"O Lord, when the objects of the world attract
me, remove the darkness which hides from me the
all-pervading all constituting
Atma,
which every object really
is."
Dasara, 1967
began with the dawn of October, 4th. Dr. K.
Bhaskaran Nair, D.Sc., writes, "Life in India
today is like a lotus flower at night. It is
downcast with the burden of dew and the petals
are closed in suffering. It droops with pain and
privation, and waits in agony for the dawn. Will
the dawn ever come?... Let us not despair. The
crimson rays have broken the veil of night. Very
soon, it will be day! This is the hope
Puttaparthy holds out to us." After the dawn,
Baba gave Darsan to the thousands waiting for it
and hoisted the flag of peace on the hearts of
all, making each heart a Prasanthi Nilayam. The
Lotus bloomed. In His discourse during the
Hospital Day celebrations, Baba said that
concern about the future, contrition about the
past, and castles planned to be constructed in
the future, cause most mental illnesses; "men
are not brave enough to forget the past, to look
the present boldly in the face and to plan
sensibly for the future", He said. On the 6th,
about 10.000 hungry people were fed sumptuously,
people whom Baba would refuse to call 'poor',
for, many of them as He says are "rich" in
spirit. He also gave thousands of
saris
and dhothis,
with the affection and care that no parent
evinces towards his children. The
Veda-purusha-sapthahayajna which has become an
annual feature, highlighting Baba's Mission of
Vedic Revival, started on the 7th. That evening,
when the 4th Anniversary Celebrations of the
Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha were inaugurated,
everyone became aware of the vacuum left behind
by Dr. Ramakrishna Rao.
Dasara is
above all the worship of the Mother, as the
Goddess of Learning, of Wealth, of Food, of
Beauty, of Art. So, Baba admits into the program
music recitals, musical discourses, dramas, folk
plays, recitations, readings from their poems by
poets, etc, as offerings at the feet of the
Mother. The
Yajna
was successfully accomplished on Vijaya-dasami
Day (the Day of Victory). Baba gave Darsan that
day wearing the resplendent robe of goldthread
woven by a devotee who had himself woven the
mantra, Sairam,1008 times into it, reciting it
throughout the process of weaving. When Baba
came that morning wearing that unique robe,
devotees felt a thrill that wakened all levels
of their consciousness in bliss, as if the Lord
extolled in the Vedas had presented Himself
before them in His full Glory! They remembered
the song that Baba had sung, during the
Inaugural Discourse of Dasara:
When
man is bogged in wrong and hate,
lost in error, afar from era's mores,
to lead him right, in love ...
When world does writhe in agony,
at thirst of blood and loot,
to cleanse the heart, of hate,
when trampled under heavy hoof.
The good, as orphans, grieve,
to fondle, foster, free ...
When the Word of God is twisted,
by petty putrid tongues,
to reveal, unfold, proclaim ...
To lighten burden of the earth,
to keep the troth He plighted.
God has come, as man midst men!
Can call be clarioned, clearer?
Drawn in and tossed on the waves of birth and
death,
you sigh and groan in pain, O Man!
Be steady a moment; watch, catch, within
reach,
the life-boat floats: Sathya
Sai!
The confidence
which that assurance gave, the joy imparted by
those tidings, devotees desired to share with
the people of their towns and villages, as early
as possible.
Listen
to: 'Children' - MP3
/ Lyrics
Baba too left
for Hyderabad, so as to be there on Deepavali,
the Festival of Lights, commemorating the
victory of the uplifting faculties of man over
his down dragging tendencies. While driving
along the trunk road, Baba granted shepherd
boys, men behind the plough, women with babies
in arms trudging home in the hot sun and boys
watching buffaloes wallowing in the pools, gifts
of fruit, sweets and cash, ensuring for each of
them a Happy Deepavali! One fortunate woman
received a bagful of sweets, a jar of pickles, a
tin of biscuits, and enough money for a fine
Sari; besides, Baba asked the old lady, "Do you
know who I am?" She confessed she did not! Baba
asked her whether she had heard of Sai Baba. She
had! She said, the Karnam of her village had
gone on pilgrimage to a place called Puttaparthi
and seen Him. Baba, embodiment of Prema that He
is, stood before her and said, "See! I am that
Sai Baba". The lady fell at His feet. "Go, have
a happy holy day," He said.
On
November 2, Baba was at Bombay! Next day, Baba
drove to the outskirts of Andheri along the
Mahakali Caves Road, and reached the site where
30.000 ardent Bhakthas were singing paeans of
praise for the glory of God, awaiting the
precious moment when He was to consecrate the
spot where "Dharmakshethra" was to be built.
Baba went up to the topmost terrace on the hill;
the ceremonial rites were nearing completion,
the trench in which the first row of stones was
to rest was ready. Baba waved His Hand and, a
'silver' plate, with the mystic symbols of the
presiding deities of the Nine Planets of Vedic
Science emanated from it, in full view of all.
Baba directed that it be placed underneath the
first stone, and Himself laid the mortar with a
trowel; then, He hoisted the Prasanthi flag and
unveiled the copper plaque, announcing the
Inauguration of
"Dharmakshethra".
Addressing the
vast gathering of devotees Baba said that the
name Dharmakshethra was used for the
battlefield, wherein the Gita was taught. Though
its real name was 'Kurukshethra', it was
referred to as Dharmakshethra, in the Gita, for,
it was the field where Dharma won over A-dharma,
where Right prevailed over Wrong. This place,
this Dharmakshethra too will see that victory,
will ensure, through the teaching and learning
of a Celestial Song, that victory! Indeed, the
body of man is the genuine Dharmakshethra, the
battle-field where right fights with wrong for
victory. Ksha
means that which suffers
kshaya,
or decay through vice;
thra
means that which recovers by means of virtue.
So, the body which flourishes and perishes
through virtue and vice is the
kshethra;
it has to be made into a Dharma-kshethra, by the
discovery of the dweller within the body, the
Kshethra-jna, the Atma, the Antharyamin."
Hon'ble Sri P.K. Savant, who presided, said that
the Dharmakshethra which will rise on that site
will be a Prasanthi Nilayam, Home of Highest
Peace, and that its radiant rays will scatter
and destroy A-santhi from the hearts of men.
Baba then met the devotees who have won the
privilege of building kuteerams or 'spiritual
retreats' for themselves at the Dharmakshethra
site. He exhorted them to intensify their
yearning and to deepen their faith so that they
may be examples to those who doubt or deny the
value of spiritual endeavor.
In the
evening, Baba inaugurated the Sathya Sai Seva
Dal, an organization of young Sadhakas who
strengthen and supplement their Sadhana by
efficient and earnest service rendered to the
weak, the disabled and the distressed. Baba
Himself is, to us, the supreme exemplar of
service through love. On 4, 5, and 6 November,
Baba gave Darsan at the Dharmakshethra site
during Bhajan in the morning; His eyes picked
out from the thickly packed masses, sick
children, diseased adults and deformed or
defective unfortunates; He blessed them with
Vibhuthi, created to assuage and
assure.
Baba reached
Prasanthi Nilayam on the 14th November, in time
for the Birthday Celebrations. "Each year, My
Birthday is celebrated in grand style. Thousands
come to have My Darsan, the Darsan I brought you
too to enjoy, to the Nilayam, on My wings"!,
said Baba to Charles Penn in Los Angeles, during
one of His supra-corporal visits to him! "But",
He cautioned Penn, "but, do not think that it is
My Birthday that is celebrated! No. I am a part
of each of you; after years of onward movement,
you merge in the estuary of My stream". That was
what He told Penn! Listen to what He told the
thousands who had come on 23rd November to
Prasanthi Nilayam:
"This is not My Birthday; I have no birth or
birthday; I am ageless, eternal. You must
celebrate your birthday, when you are born into
knowledge, not into bondage. Adore Me, on the
day that you are I, on the day when you derive
unbounded bliss there from, on the day when you
can be full of joy that you are born"!
During
the celebrations, on the 26th November, to be
exact, Baba called upon the President of the
Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Bombay to announce to
the vast concourse of devotees, that a World
Conference of Sevaks and Sadhaks of the Sathya
Sai Units will be held at "Dharmakshethra", in
May, 1968, an announcement that was welcomed
with acclamation and unbounded
joy.
The prospect
of sharing with kindred spirits from all over
the world the thrill of Baba's Darsan,
Sparsan
and
Sambhashana
filled organizations and units in every state,
with ardent hope; hence, Baba resolved to hold
preliminary conferences of office-bearers of
Sathya Sai Organizations in the States of India,
to 'confirm and consolidate, collate and
coordinate, activities and programs'. The
conference was held at Ernakulam in Kerala State
on 20th December, at Madras on 24th December, at
Brindavan in Mysore State on 30th December, 1967
and at Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra State on 23rd
February, 1968.
Besides
emphasizing once again the basic principles of
Sadhana-based service to the community,
irrespective of the creeds or faiths of the
beneficiaries, Baba directed that they should
not get enmeshed in organizational
entanglements, and the competitive search for
donors and financial supporters. Baba had a
President chosen for each State and He gave them
the task of coordinating and supervising,
guiding and counseling, the various groups of
Bhakthas who have formed units in His Name. He
chose also District Presidents. Unhampered by
committees, these presidents will work as a
team, under the State President to promote and
strengthen the Sevak and Sadhak groups allover
the country. Baba advised the workers to start
'group-singing of Bhajans along the streets of
the village and town, in the early hours of the
day', so that people may waken to the name of
God and the atmosphere filled with the fragrance
of the Glory of the Lord! He wanted also that
the message of Atmic strength and Atmic unity
should be sown in the hearts of students. Women
devotees were directed to form Samithis to serve
their sisters. Thus, the Ganga of Grace flows
from the Prasanthi Nilayam, which is Baba. It is
restoring health, reviving the drooping,
sanctifying every service, fertilizing every
noble impulse, clearing the vision and revealing
the Godward Path.
Adhunika Vidya Perigenu Anthuleka
Athma Vidya Kshinininche Avadhileka
Sathya Dharmammulanniyu Samasi Poye
Prema Shanti Ahimsalu Pedabadiye
Prema Shanti Ahimsalu Pedabadiye
Modern
learning has grown beyond bounds
and the learning of the soul has
declined without a bottom.
Truth and righteousness have got
effaced
and Love, Peace and Non-violence have
declined.
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