Learn introverted vision. Only when the mind attains introverted vision, your senses will get introverted. Without introversion of the mind, without introversion of the senses, none could attain self- knowledge in this universe. ( translated from Sai's quotes)
Sai Baba of Shirdi, an Indian Spiritual Master, regarded by His devotees as a manifestation of God, was revered equally by both Hindu and Muslim communities. A Saint and Fakir, He was born around the year 1838 and left His earthen body on 15th October 1918 at Shirdi. Sai lived an ascetic life; dressed in a knee length one piece KAFNI robe with a cap, in a dilapidated mosque named as द्वारकामाई, practicing both Hindu and Muslim rituals. A sacred fire ( धूनी ) was always lit there from which Sai gave ash( उदी ) to His guests. अल्लाह मालिक and सबका मालिक एक had been two of His regular recitations.
Sai preached the importance of " Realization of Self" and criticized love towards perishable things. His teachings concentrate on a moral code of Love, Forgiveness, Helping others, Charity, Contentment, Inner Peace and Devotion to God and Guru. He advised His devotees to lead a moral life with love for every living being and practicing of two important traits-- श्रद्धा ( Faith) and सबूरी ( Patience) in their behavior.
Baba belonged to Humanity and revered by all communities. While some Hindu Saints declared Sai to be a " Spiritual Diamond" and even " जगतगुरु ", a few others considered Him to be an incarnation of Supreme Reality. Muslim Devotees too, revered Him in high esteem. One of such example is of Abdul Baba, a close devotee of Sai, who served as a caretaker of Sai Shrine from the year 1918 to 1922. Sai was revered by Zoroastrians as well in which one of the prominent figure Meher Baba declared Sai to be a " Qutub-e- Irshad ", meaning Master of Universe in spiritual hierarchy.
Baba's utterances and simple messages have been translated and edited into Spiritual literature, TV serials and Films impacting the society at large, all over the globe. Several Sai temples within India and abroad are a testimony to the impact of Sai's teachings and messages. Some of the key messages stemming out of the same are as below,
- " God is my religion. God is my caste", Baba once said, implying upon the need of " Unity of all mankind" and the need of understanding that God being the Master of Universe, all creatures are part of one big family.
- We must sow good to reap good in this life and the next.
- Insisted on adherence to Truth. Some other attributes visible in His day to day behavior were Self Control, Equanimity, Generosity, Purity, Regularity, Self denial and Strength.
- Opposed all persecution based on Religion or Caste. He encouraged His devotees to pray, chant God's name and read holy scriptures of their religion. Baba interpreted religious texts of both Hinduism and Islam for helping His devotees tide over various issues.
- Encouraged Charity and stressed upon the importance of sharing.
- Advised His devotees to receive others with respect and understanding. As per Sai, God (हरि ) will be pleased if people gave Water to thirsty, Bread to hungry, Clothes to naked and Verandah to strangers for sitting and relaxing.
- Emphasized the importance of Performing one's duties without attachment to earthly matters and being contented.
- Demonstrated strong support for His devotees who placed their implicit faith in Him. For them, Sai was a Living God, a felt presence, inspiring, aiding & guiding them at every turn of their life. Quoting Baba's words," You are in me and I in you. If you wish to serve me, give up discrimination and differentiation." Quoting another message of Baba," I will not allow my devotees to come to any harm. If a devotee is about to fall, I stretch out my hands to save him."
- Created in His devotees an intense yearning for Self Knowledge and bestowed them with Peace. He consciously and consistently cared for their Spiritual Growth, besides helping them in resolution of problems in their material life.
- Advised people to avoid Enmity with anyone , even if they had a genuine reason since as per Baba, enmity leads to extroversion of mind and destroys mental peace. He repeatedly stressed upon getting rid of anger for the sake of universal brotherhood.
- Baba's explanation on essence of Gita had great impact. As per Him " The goal of कर्मयोग is to control and reform the senses. The goal of भक्तियोग is to identify and eliminate the weaknesses and sorrows Or what we call as inadequacies within us. The goal of ज्ञानयोग is to attain suitable intellect or विवेक which helps in understanding about God in true sense.
- Stressed upon people to accept and practice two positive values in their life ie Unswerving Faith in God and Tolerance. He asked them to get rid of thoughts of " I" (अहम् ) and " Mine" (ममता ), the two root causes of all the sorrows and disturbances in one's life. further
- Emphasized that our superiority complex ( ego) distances us away from God and makes us closer to our body, senses and the world. He advised people to shun Ego from their lives.
- Advised people to possess gratitude towards God at all times for all the things bestowed by Him in our lives. He further added that if we constantly contemplate upon God with our mind, its habit of extroverting thru senses will get reduced.
- Happiness and Sorrows are part of every life and Sai advised people to remain unperturbed by these changes. In Sai's words," You neither gain anything by being praised by others, nor lose anything by being blamed by others. It is only your delusion that makes you feel so,"
- Stressed upon the need of Righteousness in Life, which helps as a means to Liberation, the ultimate goal. Sai added that one can not attain Self Realization without possessing Divine Qualities, in the same way as one can not build a Building without a strong foundation.
- Emphasized upon the essential of reforming our own behavior rather than criticizing other's behavior. He wanted us to transcend Fear, Jealousy, Duality and Sorrow.
- Advised people to accept failures as a part of life. Quoting Baba," Never feel Failure. All failures in our life are only stepping stones for success."
- Advised people to minimize expectations from others. He said," Expect nothing and nothing will disappoint you."
- Wanted people to solve their problems themselves and avoid blaming others when things go wrong. He added," Be courageous enough to change if change is necessary. Be serene enough to accept what you can not change."
- Demonstrated complete detachment to material things namely real वैराग्य and ( निष्काम कर्म ) or selfless working.
- Never disobeyed either any moral law or the laws of the land and the country. His accessibility to all and at all hours was a remarkable feature. He had no interests to serve, no acquisitions to safeguard, no institutions to maintain, nothing to conceal or be ashamed of and thus perfectly demonstrated freedom from care and anxiety.
Sai had different ways of assisting different people or devotees who came for redressal of external worldly issues. Baba's touch to devotees conveyed certain impulses, forces or ideas for resolution of the issue. His devotees believed that Sai invisibly operated on the concerned issue, leading to its resolution. His devotees have shared scores of instances of Sai's invaluable timely help when there was a risk, danger or trouble in their life. They felt that Baba had vast knowledge of past, present and the future, not only of their life, but also of the nation or the world at large.
" Reaching God is the aim," Sai told His devotees. He never told them to aim for मोक्ष nor advocated विवेक or वैराग्य . He never spoke of माया . He always took the commonsense view that this world and the worlds beyond are real and that we have to make the best of them, here and hereafter. Baba had star like shining peaceful eyes, divine smile, wonderful compassion and unending love for humanity. Thru धूनी or विभूति, He tried to tell people," Don't become proud of your wealth or power or position or beauty since ultimately everything is going to turn into ashes".
As per Sai's devotees, Baba performed several miracles such as Bilocation, Levitation, Mind Reading, Materializations, Exorcisms, Entering State of Samadhi at Will, Lighting of Lamps with Water, Curing the Incurables and other miraculous ways of helping them in crisis situations. As per them, Baba gave them दर्शन in various forms, depending upon their faith. Many of them feel that Sai is a living personality today, guiding and helping them as per their need.
One can go on writing endlessly on Sai's life and His contribution to humanity. However. keeping with the limited purpose of my Blog, let me close the same with another powerful message from Baba's quotes.
God is not cruel by nature but He becomes cruel towards those who hurt and cause pain to holy, pure, flawless and kind hearted people.
