Sai The Solespirit of Existence Sai The Solespirit of Existence

Sudarshan Kcherry Worldwide Circulation through Authorspress Global Network First Published in 2008 by GNOSIS (An Imprint of Authorspress)

Second Edition 2014 by Authorspress

Sponsored by Dr. Shyamnath Mishra, by the grace of Supreme Awareness of Infinity — SAI

Editorial Q-2A Hauz Khas Enclave New Delhi-110 016

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Sai: The Solespirit of Existence ISBN 978-81-7273-799-3

Printed in at Salasar Imaging Systems, Delhi. Preface

One day I pulled out a book about Sai Baba of Shirdi from a binder’s wastebin. I had read only half the book when he appeared in my dream, saying, “You were one of the close devotees of mine in your last birth.” (Mahlsapathy). I do not remember the exact date but it was somewhere in August 1998. This dream persisted for several days continuously. Then the feeling of satisfaction, of fulfilment while reading the book, found its source in the love and that Sai Baba’s unique, saintly personality inspires while his divine blessings and teachings captivate my heart. Within the next few days I left for Shirdi and came back. In my childhood I used to go to the nearby hill and sit in the shade of tree and study books. It must have been sometime in 1973, when I saw Baba in a white kafni on that hill-top. But that time I hardly could understand anything about Baba. Now I realise that Baba keeps a vigil over His devotees, through the eternal cycle of life and death. He guards His devotees from the stage of life within the mother’s womb, the whole cycle of life, to the tomb and thereafter. Once again He appeared in my dream, demanding that I should write about him. In attempting to write this book, my effort has been a burning desire to fulfil his wish in this respect and, if I succeed in this task even to a small extent, it will be my crowning achievement, and also I shall feel blessed. 6  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

I had always felt an unknown pain of wanting something in life which I was not able to identify. It had been my constant companion ever since my birth. I had known all along without anyone ever telling me that this had been the pain of ‘vacuum.’ But now suddenly the doors of the intense love had been thrown open to me. Baba is the Sole who instructs in the Oneness between the Creator and His creation. The Sole Spirit, being the complete form of Existence, without his grace and guidance, the highest goal of human existence, which is -realisation or Self- realisation, can never be achieved. But once the devotee succeeds in winning the ’s grace, the Guru takes his responsibility, not only for this birth, but for every subsequent birth, till the goal is reached. The Guru’s grace can be won by absolute faith in and total self- to Him, and by infinite patience, forbearance and courage. I wish to express my sincere thanks to my staff who have made this book see the light of day. – Sudarshan Kcherry Q-2A Hauz Khas Enclave New Delhi-110 016 Contents

Preface / 5 1. Introduction / 9

2. Early Years / 11

3. The Solespirit / 16

4. Pearls of Wisdom / 22

5. Supreme Being / 30

6. Preserver, Protector and Sustainer / 35

7. Stepping into One World / 53 8. Then, Now and Forever / 71

9. The Ultimate Harmony / 85

10. Infinity / 100 1. Introduction

Sai is the divine boat who ferries his disciples as travellers across the ocean of life to the shore of bliss. He is the Ultimate Truth pervading in every being, who is a sea of kindness, the highest bliss and who is the ultimate destination. He is the compassionate one, the cosmic consciousness in all beings, the seat of Supreme Knowledge, who, as the sustainer of the universe, pervades it. Sai (Infinity) took to human form in this world with a definite purpose, a mission to fulfil, so that his love and light may be assimilated by all. In his quiet, unassuming way, he taught the principles of "universe as one cosmic family", prescribing, both by example and precept, valuable remedies for spiritual unification. He gave his devotees a common bond of love for him, after having shown them the essence of spirituality. His life and teachings embodied the most forceful revelation of the underlying unity of all communities and creeds of the world. During his early years, his activities were centred around those who were with him, and focused on social obligations. The people benefited largely, and this led to the development and spread of Sai faith in a big way all over the world. The main benefit though was the unification of and , of the Hindu faith, Christian faith and the faith within themselves, and of the purification and refinement of both, thus 10  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence building up a common flame of unity. And Sai showed himself as all-pervading, as Atman or the of all. Sai stressed the importance of birth as a human being. It was not merely living a mundane existence that distinguished a human from other beings, for did not animals and plants also live and breathe? Man was designed for higher purposes, and for him to evolve to higher and higher planes till he reached the ultimate goal, he had to realise his Self and become one with It. On being emancipated, he had to be fearless, free and everlasting. To have this awareness itself was the fulfilment of this birth. Sai also emphasised the importance of devotion to and faith in one’s guru. Single-minded devotion on the guru transformed one into speechless silence, leaving nothing separate from him, but being merged into him. By virtue of his loving devotion, a devotee would never brag about his knowledge, but offer his body, mind and wealth at his guru’s feet, i.e., surrender his all to him. Endowed with the divine powers, Sai could leave his body at will and return to it at the appropriate time. He could weave out miraculous deeds, not with any intention of showing his prowess, but to inculcate faith in his disciples, so that they could wake up from ignorance and realise their Self. He averted accidents, cured diseases, predicted happenings of the future, bestowed grace on whoever came to Him for His darshan, explained passages from the Gita which he had never read, and took part in all activities, irrespective of class and creed. Baba appeared in human form to do good to others, and when His mission was fulfilled, merged in the end, into the unmanifest.

 2. Early Years

Sai first manifested Himself for the sake of His Bhaktas, under the neem (margosa) tree as a young lad of sixteen. The villagers were amazed to see His divine form and the hard penance that He did. He did not go to anybody's house and was oblivious of heat and rain and was in divine bliss. Under a flat stone were found four burning lamps and a corridor leading to a cellar where ‘cow-mouth’ shaped structures, wooden boards and necklaces were seen. said this lad practised penance for 12 years here. The people began to question the lad about this. He diverted the question by telling them that this was His Guru's place and requested them to guard it well. The young had for a time, disappeared from Shirdi, but later with the marriage party of a Muslim gentleman named Chand Patil, he once again came to Shirdi. Let us listen to that story. Chand Patil lived in Dhoopkheda, a village of Aurangabad district. Once while travelling towards Aurangabad, he lost his mare, which for two months could not be traced. Patil was very fond of his mare and felt sorry and distressed over this loss. Finally, he flung the saddle across his back and set off for home. Leaving Aurangabad behind, he travelled about nine miles. There was a mango tree on the way, under which he saw a fakir with a cap in his hand, body covered by a kafni (mendicant's robe), 12  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence and a baton under the armpit. As he crushed some tobacco in the palm of his hand and filled the chillum (clay vase), a wonderful thing happened. As Chand Patil was passing by, the fakir called out to him by name. Chandbhai was surprised that a stranger should know his name. Baba asked him to rest with him for a while, and asked about the saddle in his hand. Chand Patil stated that he had lost his mare. Baba told him to search for his mare ‘Bijli’ along the rivulet that ran close by. Chand Patil was astonished to find his mare so quickly, but what amazed him more than anything else was that a total stranger should know his name as well as that of his mare, besides her location. He thought that he must have met a sage who had no limit to his , and who was no ordinary human being. He brought his mare and sat beside the fakir. Baba picked up a pair of tongs, thrust it in the soil, and brought out a burning coal from it. This he placed in the chillum (pipe) in his hand. He then took up his sataka (baton) with his other hand, and struck the ground hard with it. Water immediately welled out. He dipped a strip of cloth in it and then wound it round his chillum. He then picked up the chillum and started smoking; he then asked Patil to do the same. Chand Patil was quite dazed by all that he had witnessed. Patil then pressed the fakir, to pay him a visit. The fakir, who had come to this earth only for such divine leela (manifestation), conferred the favour on him. The next day he went to the village to stay with the Patil, and spent about three years there. Chand Patil was the headman of the village Dhoopkheda and his wife's nephew was engaged to be married to a girl from Shirdi. So, with the bullock-carts and horses, the marriage party Early Years  13 set out for Shirdi, in due course. And then, Baba, drawn by his affection for Chandbhai, joined the party, too! The marriage party, as it arrived, stopped under the banyan tree near the Khandoba temple. The bullocks were all unyoked in the yard, in the Khandoba temple compound. And Baba, too, got down there along with all the others. As this youthful fakir alighted from the cart, it was Bhagat Mahlsapati, the pujari of Khandoba temple, who first saw him and received him with the words “Welcome Sai”. From then onwards, he was popularly known as Sai. Thereafter, people began to call him ‘Sai’ and the name came to be used commonly by all. Baba’s old devotees recognised him and requested him not to go away from Shirdi. Thus, Sai Baba, who first came as a fakir to Shirdi, left it for three years and returned with Chand Patil’s marriage party, made Shirdi his permanent abode. There was no place he could call his own, for though everything was his, nothing was his. He had no attachment to any place or person; though countless in Shirdi had relationships with him through previous births. So Baba took shelter under a margosa tree, close to his Guru’s tomb. But as it did not provide enough shelter, he chose a dilapidated mosque for residing in. Here he lit the lamps filled with water instead of oil since it was denied to him by some oil vendors who were out to watch him squirm. But to their sheer amazement, they saw the lamps burning brightly and quickly realised the greatness of the fakir. Here was a man who could produce whatever he wanted by mere will power or supreme command. The old dilapidated mosque, where Sai spent almost 65 years is called Dwarkamai. The mosque was the place where people thronged to offer oblations to Baba, worshipping his feet, 14  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence where were sung and Aarti offered, and where food was distributed to the people. Baba shared his food with all the beings of his surroundings, be they human or animal. His doctrine was simple — all were beings created by the Almighty, and all were equal in His eyes. In his early years, Baba used to cure people with various kinds of herbs, but later he blessed all people with udhi (sacred ashes). His miracles were of curing varied illnesses, removing poverty, curing barrenness in women, warding off diseases and epidemics, lighting lamps with water, forecasting calamities, controlling the elements like fire and storms, etc. By such innumerable miracles, he not only cured, helped and comforted all his devotees and visitors, but also taught them the most subtle spiritual truths. Baba lived amidst common folk as a penniless fakir, wearing a torn kafni, sleeping on a mat, resting his head on a brick that was his lifelong companion, and begging for . In his lifetime he had no possessions, did not accept any specific school of thought or discipline, and attached no importance to , creed, doctrines, or status. But in spite of all this, he is revered by , , Buddhists, Parsis and Christians alike. Baba had disciples from all , and taught them the same values that set him apart as a greatly revered man. To the Hindus, he was the Poorna- (the Perfect Incarnation of God), well-versed in Hindu scriptures. To the Muslims, he was a fakir living in a mosque, observing the disciplines of Islam, who used to utter, “ hai!” To the Parsis, he was the sacred fire-worshipper. His philosophy included the essence of Christ’s sermon and the eight-fold path of the Buddha. Sai allowed his devotees to follow their own traditional beliefs and religious Early Years  15 modes of worship and taught "let the different exist, let them flourish and let the glory of the Infinity be sung in all languages and in a variety of tunes. Respect the differences between the faiths and recognise them as valid as long as they do not extinguish the flame of Unity". The unified flame of love and faith should bring 'Integral Perfection’, where we should see the ‘Cosmic Family’.

 3. The Solespirit

Sai Baba led the life of a simple fakir, dressed in torn clothes, and lived on alms at Shirdi; he showed by example that all living creatures have the same soul, and hence should be loved, cared for and helped by all. His divine assurance to his devotees that merely by remembering him at the hour of need, he would help them, is a source of eternal inspiration to the Cosmic Family. Today, Baba’s name has spread worldwide, and Sai shelters are devoted to him throughout India, and in foreign countries like the , , Britain, , , etc. Devotional songs are sung here to invoke his grace. Baba’s uniqueness or greatness cannot be questioned or in doubt. He said about himself thus: “I am not confined within this body of three and a half cubits height; I am everywhere; see me in every place.” “I am the Inner Ruler of all hearts and seated in their hearts.” “I am the Controller—the wirepuller of the show of this Universe.” “I am omnipresent, occupying land, air, country, world, light and heaven, and I am not limited.” “I am the Mother—origin of all senses, the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Nothing will harm him who turns his The Solespirit  17 attention towards Me, but Maya will lash or whip him who forgets Me. All the insects, ants, the visible, movable and immovable world are in My Body or Form.” “People think they are all different from each other. But in this, they are wrong. I am inside you. You are inside Me.” These statements put to rest any doubts about his being Supreme. He demonstrated this several times in various ways, and only those who experienced his divinity are blessed, for they are pure and have absolute faith in him. They are the ones who lived with him, and became his true devotees. By asserting ‘Allah Malik hai’ he implied that He is the sole spirit of the existence. Sai Baba spoke freely and mixed with all people and creatures, took part in singing and dancing, shared his food that he had collected by begging from houses with everyone. Yet he was always mentally balanced, aware of all that was going on around him, and while the world slept, he was ever awake. He saw divinity in all things, and hence treated all beings as equal. Baba, who had realised his identity with the Imperishable, said, “I got embodied by Karma, and came to a body. So I got a name and abode. Dehi, that is, the embodied, is my name; and the world is my abode. Infinity is my father and Maya, mother. I am the Attributeless, Absolute, Nirguna. I have no name and no residence.” Sai Baba was satiated in all his desires, fulfilled, content with what was ordained, constantly self-absorbed, and beyond joys and sorrows. Not only was he present at all places when his physical body was in one place, say the mosque, but he was also able to do various things with his invisible body. Sai Baba was, and is, always there, to place his hand of benediction on one’s head as one would place it on his feet in 18  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence total surrender. One felt that he was not only in one’s heart but in every atom of one’s body. A few words, a gesture would reveal to one that Sai Baba knew all about the past, present and even future and about everything else. There was nothing else to do for one, except to submit trustfully and to surrender oneself to him. And there he was to look after every minute detail, and guide one safe, through every turn and every vicissitude of life. He was the Antaryami, call him God or Satpurusha in Sahaja Stithi or what you like. His Antaryamitva, i.e., his being inside every creature and every object, animate or inanimate, so as to control all voluntary and involuntary movements of creatures and objects throw light on what he occasionally said of himself, ‘I am not confined within the three and a half cubit length of flesh, bone and blood that people call Sai Baba. I am in every dog, cat, pig, man and woman’. As a personification of the highest renunciation, Sai Baba is the protector of this universe. In innumerable ways, Baba tried to bring to the devotees a comprehension of the Formless One. According to the level that one had reached spiritually, he would treat them likewise. For instance, he would make them sit apart, he would deny darshan to some for long periods, he would send one away from Shirdi for a certain period, confine another in solitude in Shirdi itself, someone else was confined to the wada and made to read the Pothi (sacred text) regularly. The reason behind these strange ways was to create in them, after pursuing such a deep study over the years, a great longing for Baba’s presence in an unmanifest form, always feeling his presence while eating, sitting or sleeping. Baba was always calm, remarkably unruffled, guileless, forgiving to the utmost, forbearing by nature, and self-contained. The Solespirit  19

Being omniscient, and omnipresent, he could go off to space in an invisible body. Baba was living and operating in other worlds also, besides this world and in an invisible body. . . Baba was frequently talking. . . . In the morning, sitting near his (fire) with several devotees, he would say to what distant place he went overnight and what he had done. Those who had slept by his side the whole night at the masjid or chavadi knew that his physical body was at Shirdi all the night. But his statements were literally true and were occasionally verified and found to be true. He had travelled to distant places in an invisible, i.e., spirit form and rendered help there. . . . He also made occasional references to what his function was in the terrestrial sphere and in other worlds. He several times referred to his control of the destinies of departed —indicating thereby his function in the Cosmic Order. He was every moment exercising a double consciousness, one actively utilising the Ego called Sai Baba and dealing with other egos in temporal and spiritual affairs, and, the other entirely superseding all egos and resting in the position of the Universal Soul or Ego. He used and manifested all the powers and potentials incidental to both the states of consciousness. Baba always said, “Allah Malik hai”, and that he was a mere servant of Him, but to a devotee he appeared to be God. Baba always insisted that there could be no spiritual liberation from bondage if one did not acquire moral freedom. Baba was himself the refuge and support for all his devotees. He was indulgent, caring for their feelings. Though appearing to be stationed in Shirdi, he moved everywhere quite freely. Detached and unruffled as he was, he would accept from them the various rituals of , from each according to his faith. He allowed them to wash his hands and feet, apply sandal-paste on his forehead, wave the fan gently to keep away flies from him, play musical instruments, etc. 20  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Sai Baba was quite enigmatic and people were truly aware of his divinity. The best way to understand him well was to experience him. Though he is no longer manifest in a human form, his spirit is here to guide people who seek him. This is borne out by actual observation and experiences that people have had, who say that he is more active than ever before. I feel that he is always with me. At times, he visibly shows his form to reassure me or guide me. One need not have intelligence or capacity to experience him, only total faith, pure and unadulterated. All one need do is to take one step towards him, and he will surely take several more towards you to help you in your life’s journey towards God-realisation. Baba’s human form on earth was totally devoid of blame or sin, for he was a wonderful model of ethical perfection. He showed by example that he was a great unifying and universalising force. He taught the values of brotherhood and the means to overcome petty barriers between man and man. His tolerant views, universality and non-discrimination are a unique and matchless phenomena. He taught people how to recognise the presence of the Divinity in all beings. He ploughed the common land, on which his Mandir now stands, and turned it into a flower garden. This he himself nurtured, watering the plants, carrying pots of water on his shoulder for watering them. Never making any invidious distinction between Hindus and Muslims, he sent the flowers and leaves from his garden to temples and masjids. His attitude towards all was motherly, and he considered all , creeds, sects, religions as non-existent or trivial, for he was in a supreme realised state. There were times when Baba would tie anklets with bells, and sing rapturous songs with a kanjira (a small, flat drum played The Solespirit  21 with one hand while being held with the other) in hand. He revelled in songs of , Arabic songs and others through which he expressed his love. He had stopped his mighty dance at the Takia, but this trait lingered in him for decades. In 1910, when Rangri of Thana paid him a visit, Baba mentioned that the holy songs sung by the devotees the previous night had drowned him with overflowing love. Baba refers to his obtaining the vision of God due to which He gave up the practice of herbal cures for diseases, administering only udhi (holy ash) and bestowal of grace. His self-absorption and meditative trance led him to sakshatkara or vision of God. He had supernatural powers and could leave his body at will and return to it later. Sai always exercised a dual consciousness, one dealing with other egos in temporal or spiritual affairs, and the other abiding in the state of Universal Soul. He was, forever, exercising and exhibiting the powers and features of both states of consciousness. Unlike other states, he was always in the all-knowing state. Being in a state of permanent Divine Knowledge, normal sleep was not necessary for him. So Baba was not asleep at night but in a constant state of and samadhi, keeping a vigil on his devotees and showering his grace upon them. Sai Baba was full of perfect joy, an incarnation of knowledge itself, being most sacred. He was the Perfect One, the destroyer of the fear of worldly life, and the propensities of all times. He created fear and dispelled it too, as one can see from the raging storm and fire, and then peace prevailing. A darshan of him always brought great joy and satisfaction. His company signified enjoyment of bliss as he liberated people from the fear of worldly life and created an awareness of a spiritual way of life.

 4. Pearls of Wisdom

“If only you will utter ‘Sai, Sai’ all the time, I will, with my grace, present you even the seven seas (protect you beyond the seven seas). Trust these words of mine, and you will achieve your welfare, most certainly. I do not need either all the elaborate articles of puja, or the ceremonies or rites of puja. Where there is boundless faith, I abide there.” So spoke Sai Baba. These pearls of wisdom will benefit mankind if only one reposes utter faith in him and seeks his guidance. Baba’s teachings were simple, and even a layman could follow them without hesitation. For a layman, he advocated the marga (the path of devotion) wherein the worshipper had to be wholly devoted to him, chanting the name, and serving God with love. He showed by the importance of identifying the guru with God, that it was seeing God in and through the guru. The guru is the medium to realise your self. If you repose faith in him and surrender to him totally so that even your body ceases to be yours, he will take charge of your ship and steer it across the ocean of life. He who does not feel that ‘I am different, people are different,’ who sees this world as one, filled with the one and same spirit, finds that there is nothing which is separate from himself. To give up any idea of duality is itself to become Infinity. Pearls of Wisdom  23

Baba said, “I alone am; there is not a place where I am not; I pervade all the ten directions. Nothing exists apart from me.” This is one idea which each one of us must hold on to. Even the slightest trace of duality in the mind will destroy this complete Oneness, and at once create a sense of differentiation that brings about the cause of births and deaths. Infinity is the object of knowledge, and the Being is one who tries to get this Knowledge. When the darkness of ignorance is dispelled, the illusion of duality disappears at once, and the vision is filled with Oneness of the Self with everything else. When pure water gets mixed with pure water, they merge to become one, and are inseparable, without a trace of difference. When logs of different shapes and sizes are burnt together, they lose their separateness, their shapes combining into one mass as fire. Likewise, the Atman, dwelling in all living creatures, is always without a form. While the soul is indestructible, the body is destructible. The Atman is a great power, but more subtle and manifest is maya. And subtler than both these is the Purush where all sense organs repose. This is the ultimate destination of all. The Atman, unblemished and pure as crystal, is unchangeable, but appears to be bonded to worldly life by maya and one’s karma. Just as a coiled rope appears like a snake from a distance, similarly, to the Atman the ego that “I am the body” creates an illusory bondage. The fulfilment of life and life’s ultimate goal is consistency, fearlessness, emancipation, independence, and attainment of God. Without knowledge, there is no liberation, and without renunciation knowledge cannot be attained. But the thought of renunciation does not arise as long as this worldly life does not appear transient to the mind. One has to gain knowledge through experience and be one with everything. Only then is realisation possible. 24  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Sai Baba advocated the greatness of knowledge above everything else, but he also advised the devotees to follow the path of devotion and recitation of the Name. He also said that was the best way of snapping ties with the worldly life. Baba also advised everyone to practise forbearance. This, he said, is the essence of manliness that overcomes sin, suffering and adversity; it also helps to drive away all fears and disasters. Forbearance or patience alone succeeds. It is a mine of virtue and the queen of virtuous thought. Sai alone is to us the Supreme Being; in Him is our ultimate and highest goal. He is beyond the pair of opposites like joy and sorrow, love and anger, etc., and is always absorbed in the Self; and is forever, the Ultimate Reality. He enjoys unlimited glory, and with the power of his glance can transform a pauper into a wealthy man. He is that Infinity in human form who, himself having experienced it, brings people a perception of God in a Vision, and causes action, himself remaining out of it. While the body is of the five elements, and is destructible, the spirit is free and indestructible, and is without a beginning and an end. It is this pure Life-force, or the Ultimate, that is called ‘Sai’. Himself being beyond the bodily organs, he, yet, controls the gross physical organs. There is no place which is without this Sai Power, pervading all the ten directions, the animate and the inanimate. After completing his mission with a form and name, he has now merged with the Unmanifest again. He dwells inside and outside forever, in you and me, in all. He is compassionate to the poor and the meek, and is the Protector of this cosmic family. If one constantly meditates on Sai’s manifest form, with all its attributes, the manifest form will disappear, and the subtle, Pearls of Wisdom  25 true Self will appear. Unless one enters through the manifest form, it is not possible to know the true Self, and it becomes difficult to know the formless Infinity completely. Once the mind is completely filled with Sai, whether in the waking or dreaming or sleeping state, it is the state of renouncing the worldly life. Baba always told his followers to have control over their senses, saying that he who had a longing for sensual pleasures could never hope to attain spiritual progress. By offering the sense objects at the guru’s feet, the mind gets liberated and the sense- desires weaken. Instead there arises a love for the guru, and from here sprouts pure knowledge. As this pure knowledge grows, the bondage of bodily awareness gets severed, the same intellect now dives deep into the consciousness that “I am ”. It is, then, that one experiences bliss. Though the body is transient, it is the only way of achieving the highest goal of human existence, leading to bhakti . A human being exists with his ego of scant knowledge, while the all-knowing Sai is egoless. To realise the oneness between the two, the guru is the only means. The ways of the guru are contrary to those of the world. This knowledge is gained through experience. Here, faith alone is one’s sustenance, and the guru’s grace is the only means. A devotee, by virtue of his own loving devotion will never boast of his knowledge, but offer his mind, body and wealth at his guru’s feet. The profound nature of the Self, which the body, sense- organs, mind or the intellect cannot comprehend, is revealed to us by the grace of the guru. And to attain , the highest goal, one needs the guru’s grace. Our hearts must be purified if we have to cross the ocean of worldly life. The source of this purification lies in devotion to God. There is no better devotion than listening to the stories 26  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence of the guru which inspires love for him quite easily and effortlessly. The mind becomes cleansed and purified. And from there, spirituality is born. When you keep repeating Sai’s name, sins are destroyed; rajas and disappear, while sattva remains and grows, leading to moral and religious merit. This awakens God-devotion and moral consciousness, the sensual desires are totally destroyed, and Self-realisation happens instantly. When knowledge is gained through a discriminating intelligence, the whole concentration is on Self-absorption, which in itself means remaining humbly at the guru’s feet. This is known as complete surrender to the guru. Though the guru might appear to be stern, he is full of love for his devotee. One should, therefore, have patience and courage in one’s heart, and he will work for your weal in the end. When one is in the guru’s company, misfortunes, attachment and self- interests disappear. One should therefore surrender to one’s guru without conceit, but with humility and a prayer. If one follows a true guru, one will be liberated, such being the inconceivable power of the guru! There are two ways of gaining the favour of one’s guru: one is devotion, and the other is jnana. The path of devotion is easy while the jnana-marga is arduous. Though by comparison, the path of devotion is not arduous, yet one needs a succession of meritorious births to meet one’s guru, and it is only then that one enjoys the happiness of the guru’s company, which fosters devotion. Without love, knowledge is dry and of no use to anyone, nor is there any satisfaction. One needs to have deep love in the heart to make all the listening and reading fruitful. And in love resides true devotion, peace, renunciation and liberation. But love arises only with faith, and where there is faith, there is God. Pearls of Wisdom  27

If one can discriminate between the transient and the eternal, give up the desire for the fruit in this world and the next, and practise the basic disciplines enumerated in the Vedas and the Upanishads, one will finally attain moksha. The world being transient, meditate wholly upon the guru which leads to spiritual progress. By abandoning the transient, one develops detachment. The universal consciousness of the Brahman fills the Sadguru, and the presence of God is felt in all the living creatures. This is known as the worship of Non-duality. By constantly meditating upon the guru, a devotee becomes one with his guru. With single-minded meditation and sadhana, the consciousness of the body is completely forgotten, the awareness of the worldly life disappears, and only the bliss of Self-absorption is experienced. Hence, go on repeating the name of your guru. Baba always made his meaning clear, either by simple words that a layman could follow, or by events or miracles. Just as the grandeur of a dream-kingdom disappears on waking up, so will the illusory quality of this worldly life, said Baba. Given below are some of these pearls of wisdom that are so philosophical. “Be compassionate, give generously, and subdue your senses. And you will experience great happiness.” “Knowledge of the Atman based on one’s experience, is gained by meditating on it single-mindedly, and such meditation itself is the act of propitiating it. It alone brings self-satisfaction.” “Becoming first free from all desires, the Almighty dwelling in all creatures should then be brought to the mind. The meditation will then be satisfactory and the objective of life will be achieved.” “The innermost Self is God Himself, and He who is God is also the Guru. There is not the slightest difference amongst these three.” 28  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

“To experience the oneness of the Self in all beings is the utmost limit of all Knowledge. Emancipation and Bliss are really born from such knowledge.” “Sweetness may depart and from the eye its sparkle, but never will my simple, faithful devotee be without me.” “Prosperity is never permanent, and as for this body, it is forever transient. Knowing that death is always near, conduct yourself according to dharma.” “Wealth is beneficial to the wealthy in so far as it is spent on dharma and in charity. For, ethical conduct and charity alone make for true knowledge.” “Whatever pleasure one finds in the five sense-objects, ultimately turns into pain. Truly, nothing is so painful as ignorance!” “When ignorance is removed and sensual pleasures are given up, the agitated mind will be emancipated from the thraldom of maya, and the creature will turn towards Self-realisation, which will bring him the highest bliss.” “This creation is full of numerous forms with varied names. All these are different forms of maya. Similarly, the desire of the Spirit, which goes beyond the Trigunas—Satva, Rajas and Tamas —that is the manifestation of the Dweller in the heart. Apart from the name and the form, the `You’ that remains behind, that is the mark of God. Know this and surrender to Him.” “With a steadfast faith in his mind, he who is engaged in guru-worship, to him God is altogether indebted, and none can cast an evil eye upon him.” “Worldly desires are of various types. But once the significance of ‘Who I am’ is understood, they melt away as the hailstones by the heat of the sun’s rays.” Pearls of Wisdom  29

“Only when there is a realisation that the intellect, mind and other sense organs are but gross instruments of the physical body, true detachment will appear, unveiling real knowledge.” “Oblivion of the self itself marks the disappearance of maya. Realisation of the Pure Bliss within is the Essence of all being.” “To experience the bliss of consciousness is to be in that pure state which is knowledge.” “This Atman is Brahman; pure consciousness and bliss are Brahman.” Truly, this immeasurable creation of the movable and the immovable is really Baba’s very Self!

 5. Supreme Being

Maya (illusion) holds us all under her powerful spell so much and for so long. We hardly ever think that temporary pleasures fail to satisfy us, and that as one desire is fulfilled another follows and often these pleasures contain the seeds of pain. Our desire being so inordinate, we do not hesitate to commit bad karma in pursuing our pleasure. Whatever atonement we may have made by our sufferings is offset by the craving that we develop for these pleasures. Temporal pleasures are in these ways transient, and become breeding grounds for bad tendencies and bad karma. In other words, nothing is Reality, everything is maya. The only thing real is Truth. The illusion or maya that surrounds us in nature, called the phenomenal universe and the three gunas—satva, rajas and tamas —impel us to act. We are compelled to be reborn to undergo the results of our actions, good or bad. And in every birth we commit more karmas which entangle us in more rebirths from which there seems to be no way to come out. Our good karmas lead us to a guide or guru. And fortunate indeed are those who found in Sai Baba their guru! This world is created out of maya. They are both, thus, related to each other as cause and effect. In this manifest world, it is maya who has assumed a form. Prior to the creation of the world, maya had not manifested herself but was absorbed in the Supreme Being  31

Supreme and gathered together in the Unmanifest. Manifest or Unmanifest, maya has always been a part of the Supreme Being. Hence, this maya is the Supreme Being and quite inseparable from It. Maya created material objects, lifeless and motionless, from Tamoguna or Inertia. With this first act of creation, she then, as Rajoguna (Motion), combined with the Life force of the Supreme Being, opened up a whole world of consciousness, a variety of moving creatures, by virtue of the aspects of both. The Sattvaguna or Righteousness of this maya then created the intellect, which, when permeated with the Divine Bliss, completed the process of creation. Thus if maya, susceptible to numerous modifications, is not stirred into action, the Trigunas remain unmanifest, and so does she. All the visible world is Brahman, that is, the Supreme Being, maya and the world are one. One who can discriminate between the real and the unreal can hope to experience the highest Bliss. Baba’s theory of maya was significant. He would say, “Even though I am a fakir, freeing myself from all care, without the encumbrances of a house and a family, and am sitting in one place, calm and serene, abandoning all cares and vexations of life, still this irrestrainable Maya harasses me, time and again. I am well to forget her, but she never forgets me, but clings fast to me, all the time! She is the Adimaya of Shri , who had distracted even and other ! But when Hari is pleased, only then will she be destroyed. There is no release from Maya unless you ceaselessly sing Sai bhajans.” When one begins to consider the worldly life as transient, the illusory creation around us faces one, and the traveller is utterly confused, not knowing which way to proceed. This 32  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence universe is such an illusion, the maya or deceptive sport of the Almighty or the Infinite Consciousness. Maya is an optical illusion. Waves rise and dash against the shore during a stormy weather, and these waves break up into innumerable bubbles that appear as froth. All these bubbles, froth, waves, eddies are different forms of the same water, and are all optical illusions. Likewise, maya too takes different forms, but in essence is just illusion. This being, the jeevatma, is beyond the trigunas, but being ensnared by maya, forgets his divine nature of Truth, Consciousness and Bliss, and he identifies himself with the body. Then, he begins to believe that he is the doer, he is the enjoyer. When calamities set in, he is bewildered and does not know how to wriggle out of them. Such is the power of maya. The easiest of all ways then is to remember Sai in your heart. This is the only refuge and the only way to destroy maya. It is maya that creates an illusory scene containing this whole creation with its animate and inanimate things. This creation of living and non-living things is only a creation in a mind to which it appears as existing in reality, and is not in fact a manifestation. It is like the desires that come true while asleep, but get shattered on waking up. When one wakes up, the dreams melt away, and it is only by the Sadguru’s explanation of the four great Mahavakyas that the Supreme Truth is revealed. These great Mahavakyas or aphorisms are: (1) Brahman is Pure Consciousness, (2) You are that Brahman (3) To experience the state that I am not the body or the mind, but the which is Brahman. And (4) Atman who is the Sakshi or witness of your mind is Brahman. This revelation from the Sadguru comes only when he is pleased. This is the real Self, self-illumined and infinite, while this created Supreme Being  33 elemental universe is the sport or maya of that Creator. As such maya has no place in the true Self. This maya will be dispelled only with the philosophical knowledge, which is received when the guru awakens the disciple with his instruction. A total identification with the material is an exercise in futility. This is all transitory, illusory maya. To avoid getting entangled in the tentacles of this maya, one should surrender with a single-minded devotion to Baba. Only one who sees God in all the created things, animate and inanimate, can overcome maya with certainty. The whole world is a spectacle of maya, who is the cause of the birth of this body, and the working of the body depends on Destiny. The visible universe is the unmanifest maya or avidya, which is without a beginning. Ignorance of the true Self is the source of maya. Once this maya is dispelled by the guru’s grace, the knowledge of the true Self emerges. The only means of release for one is God-devotion and worship. A devotee of God has no ‘Fall’, nor is he bonded to the worldly life. Saints appear in this world, assuming a body through the power of maya. When their mission is complete, they merge at once into the unmanifest. Although God resides in the hearts of all creatures, nobody is aware of this, their own state. Such is the unimaginable and great power of illusion of this maya. Knowledge is Self-realisation, and is the basis for dispelling ignorance. But unless devotion to God comes, the power of maya cannot be overcome. Just as moss covers clear water, or a mist covers a clear sky, so does this maya cover knowledge which is itself self-illuminated. When a person turns a lighted sparkler or firebrand round and round quickly, an illusory ring of fire is produced, this being 34  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence the inconceivable doings of maya. In actuality, it is only fire, and there is no place for a ring of fire. Similarly is this creation which is only an illusion. It is only by dispelling this illusion that Jnana or knowledge manifests. Maya is a marketplace of variegated things that are real and fake. Many purchase the fake, mistaking them for the real. When the Sadguru shows why a fake looks like the real, ignorance disappears, and only Knowledge remains. Know that what remains is the Truth. Maya being illusory, identification of the body with the real Self and attachment to it is called ‘death’ by the wise. It is very difficult indeed to cross this ocean of worldly life with maya weaving a web of illusion. Therefore, do not get entangled in her meshes, but surrender to God-worship and devotion. Devotion to one’s guru will help one cross this illusory state, and step into Truth.

 6. Preserver, Protector and Sustainer

Obeying, serving, and loving God are the chief features of the devotional path. Sai Baba stressed this devotion on the basis of devotion to one’s guru. It is seeing God in, through, and as the guru, identifying the guru with God, which is true devotion. Sainath once said, “It is not necessary to have a guru. Everything is within us. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get.” Here, he clearly indicates that once you have recognised and heard your inner Guru, or in other words, realised your Self, then the outer guru is of relative unimportance. Baba said quite explicitly, “It is all within you. Try to listen inwardly, and follow the direction you get.” But he was very selective in giving this advice to only a chosen few. There are two types of guru—the niyat (ordained by God), and the aniyat (not so ordained). The aniyat guru encourages the development of virtuous qualities in his disciple, so that his heart gets purified, and the guru can then guide him to the path of salvation. The niyat guru pervades the universe in an unmanifest state, and incarnates on earth for the well-being of his disciples. Sai Baba was then a niyat guru who removed all dualities and awakened the feeling of Oneness by precept. Having achieved his mission on earth, he gave up his mortal frame. As Sadguru, only he was capable of giving one Self-Knowledge, rowing on the shore beyond, and aware of one’s past, present and future. 36  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Once a disciple or devotee surrendered at his feet with single-minded devotion, even God would be moved. Such is the wonder of guru-worship, which devotees should experience for themselves. Only the one who is aware of only his physical self needs a guru, not one who has transcended his physical self, and gone beyond. Sai Baba’s teaching was simply devotion to the guru, and total surrender to him; a very potent method but useful and safe for the perfect guru from whom all traces of ego have been washed away, as Sai Baba always showed by example without theorising. Once, a devotee staying at the house of Ayi, another devotee who was permanently entrenched in Shirdi to whom Baba often sent visitors, said that chanting God’s name was the best course for all, but what name was to be chanted? Ayi replied that many chanted the name of , or Vittala, but for her, the only name that hung on the tip of her tongue was Sai. The devotee decided that what was good for her was good for him too, and that he too would take the name of Sai. So they sat facing each other, chanting the name Sai. Later in the day, Baba sent for the devotee staying in Ayi’s place. He asked him what he had been doing in the morning, and the devotee replied that he was chanting the ‘Naam’. Baba asked him whose name he chanted, and the reply was of his God. Baba asked who his God was, and pat came the reply, “You know!” Baba smiled and said, “That’s right.” Thus chanting of Sai’s name was clearly endorsed and approved by him, and probably silently masterminding it through Ayi. Baba exerted tremendous influence over his devotees, beyond any doubt. Many have vouchsafed about his greatness and his omniscience, omnipresence, and great compassion for life, be they human or animal. He had a certain way of touching the head Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  37 of a devotee who bowed before him. His touch conveyed certain impulses, forces, ideas. Sometimes he pressed his hand heavily on the head as though crushing out some of the lower impulses of the devotee. Sometimes he tapped the head or made a pass over it with his hand. Each such action had its own effect, causing a remarkable change in the sensations or feelings of the devotee. Baba always enjoined upon his devotees the importance of worshipping the guru, as he himself had followed, in order to reach God. Being totally devoted to one’s guru, and following his every command, one would surely be on the right path towards God. Baba had no wish to allow his followers to renounce the world and take sanyas. He wished them to develop inwardly through the medium of family life, and hence he showed great interest in the family life of his devotees, their jobs, marriage, children, health, etc. He never gave anyone any , for he had received none from his guru. Sai Baba always advised his devotees to surrender completely to their guru, being pure, chaste and upright in one’s conduct. Showing by example the value of humbleness and egolessness, he begged for alms every day. Till his last days, this was a daily ritual that he never missed, thereby radiating influence, and avoiding teaching. So it behoves on the part of the devotee to be pure and upright so as to be fit to receive the guru’s grace. Reposing full faith and trust in his guru will help him to reach higher goals till he reaches the Ultimate One. Once, when all the devotees were gathered before Baba, he told Bade Baba (also known as Fakir Baba who had come to Shirdi to be guided by Baba in his spiritual path), to kill a goat in sacrifice in just one stroke. But Bade Baba protested, “But how to kill one without reason?” 38  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Shama, who was also present, was then given the same task by Baba. Shama went to fetch the knife very reluctantly, and placed it before Baba. Meanwhile, his wife wanted the knife back, so Shama went to fetch another knife. This time he took his time, sitting in the wada for some time, as he was reluctant to kill the goat. Baba, in order to test Kaka’s devotion, commanded him, “Go and get a knife to kill the goat. Do relieve him of his suffering and pain.” Baba knew that Kaka’s devotion was pure, but to satisfy people, he had to demonstrate his faith. Anyone who harbours doubts about his guru’s command will falter in his progress towards his spiritual goal. But the person, having implicit faith in his guru, not questioning his actions, whose very word is his command, will surely treat the spiritual path leading to God-realisation. Kaka did not even think that by killing the goat he would be tainting his purity or character, for Sai’s word was his mantra, and the only Truth. So he went to Sathewada and brought back the knife in his hand, and he prepared to strike the goat. The villagers were astonished. A man known never to utter a harsh word, a mild-mannered man who was full of tenderness, how was he ready to perform such a heinous act? Kaka, ready with the knife, said, “Baba, must I strike him now? Tell me, just this once!” The hesitation came only out of pity for the goat, and hence the faltering. Baba said, “Hmm! Kill it now! What are you waiting for?” As this order came from Baba’s lips, Kaka lifted his hand with the knife, and as he was bringing it down, Baba said quickly, “Oh, but let it be! Let it be! No, no, Kaka, turn back! Oh, how heartless you are! A , and yet you want to slay it? Is there no sympathy in your heart?” Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  39

Kaka immediately dropped the knife in great relief. People all around were pleasantly surprised that the goat had received the grace of life, and guru-devotion was starkly apparent. Kaka said to Baba, “Baba, your nectar-like words are like dharmashastra to us. We know no other dharma than your words. Obedience to your word is Vedashastra to us.” Baba was truly pleased with such unsullied devotion from Kaka. The discipleship of a devotee lies in obeying the guru’s command. It may give pleasure or pain, and destiny will play its role.

Preserver, Protector and Sustainer When Baba was still young, he went to the twin villages of Sindhon-Bindhon. As he rested there under a tree one hot afternoon, a Jagirdar named Chand Bhai Patil of Dhoopkheda passed by. Seeing him so depressed and sad, Baba called him by his name. Chand Patil was surprised that a stranger should know his name. Baba asked him to rest with him awhile, then asked the purpose of the saddle in his hand. Chand Patil stated that he had lost his mare. Baba told him to search for his ‘Bijli’ along the rivulet that ran close by. Chand Patil was astonished to find his mare so quickly, but what amazed him more than anything else was that a total stranger should know his name as well as his mare’s, besides the location of the mare. He decided that he must have met a sage who had no limits to his miracles, and who was no ordinary human being. He brought his mare and sat beside the fakir. Baba picked up a pair of tongs, thrust it in the soil, and brought out a live coal from it. This he placed in the chillum (pipe) in his hand. He then took up his sataka (baton) with his other hand, and struck the ground hard with it. Water immediately welled out. He dipped a strip of cloth in it and then 40  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence wound it round his chillum. He then picked up the chillum and smoking it, asked Patil also to do the same. Chand Patil was quite dazed by all that he had witnessed. He invited the fakir to visit him, which Baba did the following day. He then accompanied Chand Patil to Shirdi in a procession of a marriage party belonging to Chand Bhai Patil. As soon as he got down from the cart, the pujari of Khandoba Mandir ‘Mahlsapathy’ welcomed Him as ‘Yavo Sai’, “Welcome God”.

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Sai Baba taught his devotees through a wild profusion of well- attested miracles, for he had the gift of siddhis, being an avadhoota. His miracles were flamboyant, as the following story depicts.The nearest railway station to Kopergaon was some six miles from Shirdi, and the only conveyance was a horse carriage. Some devotees, who had come to Shirdi to see Baba, had to return urgently to Bombay, but there was a raging storm then. Sai Baba looked up at the sky and shouted, “Hey! Enough of that! Stop it now! My children have to go back.” No sooner said than the storm stopped! But there was a purpose in his miracles. He said, “I give my devotees what they want so that they will begin to want what I want to give them.”

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Baba’s pure divine blessings did wonders to all ailing people who sought his blessings. Bhagoji Shinde was afflicted with leprosy as a result of the great sins of his past life. His body was fall of bleeding sores, the toes and fingers having fallen off due to the advanced stage of leprosy. The whole body exuded a repulsive stench, yet he was very dear to Baba.

 Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  41

One day, Baba was sitting near the dhuni, adding logs into the fire. Suddenly, he thrust his hand in the fire, keeping it in the fire, quite unaware of pain. Shama, noticing this, ran instantly to Baba, and putting his arms around his waist, as he stood behind Baba, he quickly pulled him back, shouting, “Baba, what have you done?” Baba instantly came back to awareness, and said, “Oh, Shama, a child slipped from its mother’s arms into the smith’s forge, for she had been blowing the bellows vigorously and forgotten about the child in her arms. As I was picking her up, this is what happened! Let the hand be scorched, yet at least the child’s life is saved!” And who else, but Bhagoji alone had the privilege of massaging his hand with ghee (clarified butter), covering it with a leaf, and bandaging it tightly. People were concerned that Baba would contact leprosy from Bhagoji, far from it!

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One day, in the early years of his life at Shirdi, Baba was grinding wheat on the quern that was placed on a sack, his legs spread out, his hands rotating the quern-stone with a handle on it. Everyone was amazed at such a sight, and soon people gathered to see what was happening. Four women immediately seized hold of Baba’s hand, and quickly took his place in grinding the wheat, without heeding to his quarrels. They sang Baba’s praises as they did so. Baba’s mock anger gave way to love and tenderness, a smile brightening his face. When the grinding of the wheat was completed, the four women decided that since Baba was alone, he did not need all that wheatflour. So they filled the scuttle basket with flour, preparing to take it to their homes. Baba watched all this silently. When the women started dividing the flour into four portions for themselves, Baba said in anger, “Are you out of your senses? 42  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Where are you taking the flour? Does it belong to your father that you are carrying it away? Go at once to the village boundary and throw all the flour at the side of the brook there! Freebooters all! How they come running to loot me! Was it some borrowed wheat that you now stake a claim to the flour?” The women, ashamed of themselves, did as Baba commanded. Later, this strange act of Baba found a reasonable answer. When Baba had started grinding, it was not the wheat but the terrible cholera epidemic that he fed to the quern to be crushed. Then by scattering the ground flour along the side of the brook at the village border, the epidemic started waning, and soon the village was free of the disease. Thus, by employing this mysterious remedy, Baba showed the people his leela and divine power.

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Sai Baba knew the past, the present and the future. Once Nana Saheb had to leave for Pandharpur, for he was transferred there. But before going there he wanted to have a darshan of Baba. Since he had to join duty quickly, he left in a hurry for Shirdi with his family. No one expected him, but Baba knew of his arrival. Baba suddenly started singing a .

To Pandharpur I go, I go There alone do I stay There alone do I stay, I stay In that abode of my Lord!

The devotees too joined in singing this refrain, when suddenly Nana arrived. Bowing at Baba’s feet, he along with his family, sought Baba’s grace, entreating him to accompany them to Pandharpur and remain there. The people assured him about Baba’s interest to go there and the bhajan that they had sung. Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  43

Baba’s leela astonished him, and with great reverence and choking with emotion, he placed his head on Baba’s feet. After taking his blessings and udhi he left for Pandharpur.

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Baba knew that people had to be convinced of his nature only through the miracles that he performed. A Marwadi had a young daughter aged about eight years, who was stricken with palsied legs. Since she could not walk, she was carried in a chair to Baba. She remained with Baba for three days. Suddenly she found that she could bend and stretch her legs. On the following day, she found that she could stand, and soon she was able to walk. She was not given any medication or application, but the cure was purely by Baba’s blessings and the smearing of udhi on her.

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Baba always ensured the safety of his loved ones. One evening, around seven o’clock, Shama was suddenly bitten by a snake on his little finger, the poison causing acute pain. He was in agony with pain and worry, and his whole body turned red. His friends begged him to go to the temple since his life was in danger. His uncle suggested that he first take udhi and then go to the temple. Shama rushed to the mosque. When he came up to Baba, the latter met his eyes and began abusing and cursing, not allowing him to come up the steps. He shouted, “Do not climb up. If you dare climb up, just beware! Get out, at once! Climb down and be gone!” Shama was stunned to see Baba so angry, breathing out fire and fury. He panicked, and in a daze, sat down. He felt that Baba had rejected him and that all hope of a cure was lost. He felt like a lost child, bereft of its mother’s arms. 44  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

After a while, Baba calmed down, and Shama, taking courage, went up to him and sat down. Baba said to him, “Do not lose courage, and have no worry whatsoever in your mind. All will be well. Give up worrying.” He then ordered him to go home and sit quietly, asking him not to go out of the house, but have trust in him. He then sent Tatya Kote with a message, telling him to see that Shama did not sleep, and that he kept walking about in the house itself. And thus, Shama was saved from a poisonous death. Such indeed is the compassion of Sai, whose heart is kindled by love and compassion for his devotees. Shama later realised that the harsh words that Baba uttered were addressed to the poison, and not to him.

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When Hansraj was suffering from asthma, one day he saw a cat eat all the curds, and so had beaten it. But it was Baba, in the form of a cat, who had saved Hansraj by eating the curds, for he had instructed Hansraj to avoid curds which was not good for his asthma. To prove that he had been beaten, he showed the weal on his shoulder.

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Baba’s control of the elements was supreme. Once Megha had brought a pot of water from River Godavari for Baba’s bath. He was to have sprinkled only a few drops of water over Baba’s head, yet in his enthusiasm he overturned the full pot of water over Baba’s head. But to Megha’s amazement, the water just wet Baba’s head and nothing else.

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Baba always exuded bliss, which filled some of his devotees with a strange feeling of ecstasy, something which did not result from external or internal contact with any object of the senses but Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  45 which the heart completely gave it its highest satisfaction. A South African doctor came to Sai Baba without full faith in him. Being aware of his own high birth as a brahmin, he did not wish to enter the mosque of a mere Muslim fakir for fear of being polluted. But when his friend persuaded him to make at least one visit, he complied. And he suddenly rushed inside the mosque and fell at Baba’s feet in total surrender. When questioned about this strange behaviour, he said, “I am a Rama devotee, but have had no personal or direct knowledge of Rama, but when I saw Baba, I saw in him my Rama for the first time, all the qualities of Rama in him. I found he was Neelamegha Shyama Rama, my Ishtadevata, and so I bowed to him gratefully.” Since he considered Baba as Rama, he decided he would not go to the mosque till Baba granted him his heart’s desire—the perfect bliss of Satchitananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss). So he stayed away from the mosque for three days. On the fourth day, while he was talking to an old friend, he forgot his vow, and in his friend’s company went to see Baba. As they fell at his feet, Baba asked kindly the doctor, “Did anyone send for you?” The doctor felt ashamed, but seeing that Baba knew the secrets of his heart, he would grant him his desire, and Baba did! Baba being perfectly free from desires, totally self- controlled and always dwelling upon God, must certainly be immersed in Satchitananda. Baba had the great power to see or hear things far from where he resided, for he was all-pervading and omnipresent. Without seeing and hearing he had the power to know, for his nature was pure chit (knowledge), and his power of divine vision enabled him to see or hear at the same time what transpired at different places, and thus make use of this knowledge for the benefit of his devotees.  46  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Baba is the Atman or Soul who resides in all beings. He is the Supreme, permeating the universe, meaning that He is immanent and transcendent of the universe. Baba once asked Chandorkar to bring polis (sweet pancakes) for naivedya. When they were placed before Baba, ants and flies settled on them, but Baba just sat there quietly, watching the polis. Then when he said that he had eaten them and Chandorkar might remove the plates, Chandorkar could hardly believe that Baba had eaten at all, for had he not sat there just watching the polis? Baba declared that he was the Soul of the ants and flies which had feasted on the polis. Chandorkar wanted proof, and when Baba raised his hands and made some gestures, Chandorkar realised that Baba knew the secrets of his heart and so must be his Soul too, and therefore the Soul of all beings.

Brahmajnana Once a visitor came to Shirdi with the intention of being granted a vision of God by Baba. Baba said to him: “Oh yes, don’t worry. I’ll show you God quickly and clearly. People like you who seek illumination are hard to find. Most people who come here want prosperity or health or freedom from trouble, or they want a good position or pleasure or some worldly benefits. Nobody comes here demanding to see God. One should realise God before one’s time is up in this world, otherwise there will be the ever-vicious cycle of birth and death. Only a Guru can lead you to that realisation.” Then he summoned a boy and through him sent a message to a shopkeeper to lend him five rupees as it was needed urgently. When the boy left, Baba seemed unwilling to engage the visitor with small talk. He knew that the visitor had Rs. 250/- in his pocket. The boy returned to say that the shopkeeper was not at Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  47 home. Baba sent him to another person with the same message, but the boy returned empty-handed. He then sent him to various other people but each time the boy returned without the money but with some excuse. Meanwhile, the visitor, who was watching all this, was becoming impatient. Though he had the money and could have easily given Baba a paltry five rupees, he did not do so. Finally, losing his patience, he again asked Baba if he would help him to realise God. Baba then explained the symbolism of his actions to him thus: “But that is what I have been doing! Don’t you understand? I wanted five rupees and I sent the boy several times to fetch the sum. You could have given it to me. One must surrender ‘five’ to attain Brahman. You have to surrender all the ‘five’ senses and the ‘five’ pranas, and for that one must acquire detachment to worldly goods. The road to Brahmajnana or Divine Knowledge is hard to tread. Not all can tread it. When this knowledge of the Divine dawns on you, there will be light. Only that person who is detached from worldly and heavenly things can attain to Divine Knowledge.”

Baba’s Perspicacity Baba always spoke in a captivating manner, and his style of instruction was most remarkable. He made the most difficult seem simple, for he knew that most people had only information, and not knowledge, that is, they had the facts without experiencing them. For, whatever happens, happens by God’s will, and it is He who enlightens you or keeps you ignorant. Sai Baba never wrote a book, nor did he read them. He did occasionally instruct a devotee to read an extract from some spiritual work, but for the most part he discouraged them, for 48  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence he said, “People hope to find brahmajnana in these books, but it is brahma (confusion), not Brahma, that they find here.” For a long time, nobody supposed that he knew Sanskrit, until one day he gave an exposition that showed his perspicacity and droll humour natural to him. One day, while a devotee, Nana, was massaging his legs and feet, Baba heard the devotee chanting something in an undertone. When questioned, the devotee said that it was a verse from the . Baba ordered him to say it aloud. The devotee then recited verse 34 of Chapter IV in Sanskrit, which, translated into English was: “Know that by means of prostration, enquiries and service, the Jnanis (Enlightened) who have realised the Truth will teach you Jnana (Knowledge).” Baba asked him if he understood the verse. When Nana nodded, Baba asked him to tell him the meaning. When Nana gave a free rendering in the vernacular, Baba said that he did not want the gist of it, but the exact grammatical meaning with the case, mood and tense. Nana gave a literal translation, wondering whether Baba knew anything of Sanskrit grammar. He soon found out. “In tatviddhi, what does tat stand for?” “The knowledge referred to in the previous verse.” “What does pranipat mean?” “Prostration.” “And pat?” “The same.” “If they mean the same, would Vyasa have added two unnecessary syllables?” Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  49

“I don’t see any difference between them,” Nana conceded. Baba let that pass, and then asked, “What does prashna mean?” “Asking questions.” “And pariprashna?” “The same.” “Then, if they both mean the same, was Vyasa mad to use the longer?” “I don’t see any difference.” “Next point, what does mean?” “Service, such as I am doing now in massaging your feet.” “Nothing more?” “I don’t see what more it can mean.” “We will leave that too. Next point: tells Arjuna to get Jnana (Knowledge) from Jnanis (the Enlightened). Wasn’t Krishna himself a Jnani?” “Yes.” “Then why does he send Arjuna to others instead of giving him Jnana himself?” “I don’t know,” admitted Nana. “Wasn’t Arjuna a jiva (being) and therefore an emanation of Chaitanya (Universal Consciousness)?” “Yes.” “Then how can knowledge be given to what is already an emanation of Consciousness or Knowledge?” 50  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

The devotees gathered there were stupefied. They wondered how Sai Baba understood such a difficult language as Sanskrit, and marvelled at how he had put such an apt question to Nana. Nana was now thoroughly at sea. What had seemed like an easy- to-understand verse was truly bewildering. Baba explained to him then that it is not Jnana (Knowledge) but ajnana (non-knowledge or ignorance) that a guru gives. He explained, “This verse instructs us how a disciple should approach his guru in order to attain Realisation. He must surrender his mind, body, soul, everything that he possesses, to his guru. That is the prostration referred to. The enquiry must be a constant quest for Truth, not questions asked to satisfy curiosity or a wrong motive. The motive must be pure desire for spiritual progress and Realisation. Then the service is not mere physical service as massaging. For it to be effective, there must be no thought that you are free to give or withhold service. You must feel that your body no longer belongs to you since you have surrendered it to the guru, and it exists only to do him service.” Baba continued with his explanation of the verse to Nana. “Isn’t Brahma Pure Knowledge or Being?” “Yes.” “And everything else is non-being or ignorance (non- knowledge)?” “Yes.” “Don’t the scriptures declare that Brahma is beyond the range of speech or mind?” “Yes.” “Then the speech of the guru is not Brahma or knowledge?” “No.” Preserver, Protector and Sustainer  51

“Then you admit that what the guru says is not knowledge but ignorance?” “It seems so!” “Then the guru’s instruction is simply a piece of ignorance used to remove the disciple’s ignorance, just as a thorn is used to remove another thorn from one’s foot, isn’t that so?” “I suppose so.” “The disciple is a jiva (being) whose essential nature is Knowledge, don’t you agree?” “Yes.” “Then there is obviously no need to give him Knowledge but simply to remove the maya or veil of ignorance and illusion that hides the existent Knowledge. This, of course, is not to be done in an instant, since the disciple is immersed in an age-old ignorance and needs repeated instructions, perhaps through all his life. And what is the nature of this instruction through speech about what is beyond speech? Isn’t it like removing a cover? Ignorance conceals the pre-existent Knowledge just as water plants cover the surface of a pond. Clear away the plants and you have the water. You don’t have to create it; it is there already. Or take another example—a cataract grows on the eye and prevents a man from seeing; remove the cataract and he sees. Ignorance is the cataract. The universe is the efflorescence of the indescribable maya, which is ignorance; yet ignorance is needed to illuminate and dissolve this ignorance. “Divine Knowledge is to be realised, not taught. It is an illusion to suppose that phenomena are real. That it is the screen of ignorance which hides Knowledge. Tear it off and Brahma or Knowledge will shine forth. 52  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

“Ignorance is the seed of samsara (birth and death). Put the medicine of the Guru’s grace on the eye and the screen of maya lifts, leaving only Jnana (Knowledge). Jnana is not something to be attained, it is eternal and self-existent. On the other hand, ignorance has a cause and an end. The root of it is the idea that the devotee is a separate entity from God. Remove this and what remains is Jnana. “Now the question why Krishna referred Arjuna to other instead of giving him Jnana himself. Did Krishna consider other jnanis separate from himself or their teaching different from his? No. So their teaching is his and there is no difference.” For a person who had read no books, such knowledge was indeed remarkable and unique!

 7. Stepping into One World

Baba showed once that he was Sarvadevaswaroopam (Manifestation of all gods put together). He revealed through his amazing miraculous powers his omnipresence in all the forms of gods and goddesses, and saints of all faiths. He performed divine miracles, spiritual transformations, and granted liberation to innumerable creatures, who were drawn to him. Baba embodied all that was truly omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, kind, compassionate, bountiful, all-embracing God out to help his devotees of all faiths, spiritually as well as materially. Sai, being omniscient, knew everyone’s past, present and future. He told Shama that they had been together for the last 74 births; with Narke and Hemadpant for the last 30 births, etc. Baba was greatly devoted to his guru, Venkusa, whom he considered to be his mentor, father, mother, guide. He once told one of his devotees, Radha Bhai : “I had a guru. He was an illustrious saint, most compassionate and warm-hearted. I served him faithfully for many years, but he would not blow any mantra into my ears. But I was always drawn to him, never feeling the need to leave him, but to serve him forever.” A few people entertain the doubt that if they already have a guru, how can they make Baba their guru? Baba, being the Guru of gurus, who has the powers to command the whole world, will 54  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence be pleased with anyone who seeks his protection. But he never told anyone to switch gurus. There were those who followed a particular guru, and getting no benefit from him, would turn to another. But in such cases, it was the materialistic attitude of the devotees themselves that was to be blamed, and not the gurus. When they approached him, he would say, “What you need is not another guru. If you cannot serve your guru with faith and total devotion, there will be no benefit from me either. First of all, learn to serve your guru wholeheartedly, and meditate upon him.” As a Universal God, he was tolerant to all religions. He transcended worldly existence which is difficult. He was the abode of many devotees for he always exuded peace and calmness. He was the most bounteous among the liberals, and embodied all the essences. He was ever engrossed in Self-realisation. He was detached from mundane matters and felt no desires of the world beyond. His heart was pure and clear, his speech like nectar. He made no discrimination between the rich and the poor. He spoke freely and candidly, mixed with everyone, sang with them, shared his food with them. He looked and lived both like a Muslim and a Hindu—living in a mosque, a perpetual dhuni burning in it, arathis conducted in it, celebrating Ramanavami and ‘sandal’ procession (Muslim tradition). He ate meat and fish with devotees and , but said nothing when dogs licked the dishes before he ate. He saw divinity in all living beings; friends and foes were equal, evil-doers and the virtuous were treated alike. He had no place for doubt in his mind. Such was his greatness. He espoused ‘affective neutrality’ and had an utter disdain for worldly possessions, cared not at all about what he wore, ate, and had no desire for accumulating wealth for his ashram, or to establish any institution. Stepping into One World  55

By miracles and demonstrations he showed that all creatures have the same atma, and therefore we must love them all as our own. He conducted miracles for the benefit of the illiterate and semi-literate rural folk who had no understanding of the intricacies of the scriptures. These miracles were aimed at uniting them in a bond of love and faith. He had no worries since he had no institution to maintain or seek support for; no possessions to safeguard; no interests to serve or protect. Whatever he got by way of alms and donations were quickly distributed. When he left his mortal body, he had just enough money with him for his funeral. He was above mundane and worldly desires. He cured many mercenaries of their greed and ego by repeatedly asking them for dakshina till realisation dawned upon them. He never advocated to anyone to renounce his home and family. He counselled Nana Saheb and Khaparde to stay away from lust, and advised Mahlsapathy to sleep less at night. Once Baba had left his body and re-entered it. On a full- moon night in 1886, Baba instructed his loyal disciple Mahlsapathy that he would be leaving his body for three days. Mahlsapathy was to take good care of the body. If Baba did not return after three days, Mahlsapathy was to inter his body opposite the mosque with two flags placed on top. So saying, Baba put his head on Mahlsapathy’s lap and left his mortal body. Tatya, who happened to arrive just then was witness to this strange event. News spread around Shirdi that Baba was dead. The village munsif, Bhate, always critical of Baba’s deeds, said that the body had to be moved, but Mahlsapathy, Tatya and Shama refused to let him touch the body, as Baba had asked for three days’ time. 56  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

A doctor arrived on the third day and he proclaimed Baba dead, though there were no symptoms of a three-day dead body. Since plague was rampant then, he advised that the body be disposed of. Yet the loyal devotees refused to do so, saying they would wait till the morrow before relinquishing the body. And in the early hours of the fourth morning, Baba’s limbs began to move, and soon he sat up. Mahlsapathy cried out in joy, “Sri Sainath Maharaj ki jai!” Baba had total control over the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and space. The entire creation, according to science revelations, is a combination of one or more of these elements, and Baba controlled them, as he revealed in a number of instances. One day, a devotee started abusing another in a loud voice, thinking that Baba was not around. Just then Baba appeared and the devotee asked him several questions. Baba, pointing out to a filthy pig, said, “See how happy the pig is eating that filth. Your behaviour was like that. You abused your brethren with contempt. We have acquired this human birth due to some virtuous deeds in our previous one. If you do not do good and mend your ways, how can Shirdi help you?” By saying this Baba pointed out that merely visiting Shirdi or having Baba’s darshan did not make him a devotee. He had to serve mankind and all living beings without discrimination and with affection as if they were all his own.

The Creator and the Creation Once a devotee called Mrs. Tarkhad was serving lunch at noon in Shirdi. A hungry dog turned up there and began to howl pitifully due to hunger. Mrs. Tarkhad at once got up and threw it a roti which it ate with great relish. Later, in the afternoon, Stepping into One World  57 when she went to the mosque Baba said, “Mother, today you have fed me sumptuously and my senses and hunger were much appeased. Ever act like this and this will stand you in good stead. Sitting in this Masjid I never speak untruth. Take pity on me; feed the hungry first and then eat yourself. Note this well.” Mrs. Tarkhad said, “Baba, when did I feed you?” Baba said, “The dog which you fed at lunch hour is I. I roam in this world in different forms—cats, pigs, crows and all. He who sees Me in all these creatures is dearest to Me. Abandon the sense of difference and serve Me as you did today.” One evening Mrs. Laxmibai entered the mosque and bowed to Baba who said to her, “Laxmibai, I am very hungry.” She ran home and fetched roti and vegetables for him. He at once took it up and gave it to a dog leaving Laxmibai shell-shocked and insulted. She said, “Was it for this that you wanted me to bring the food here?” Baba was unperturbed. He said, “Why do you grieve over such a small affair? By satisfying its hunger you are feeding me. The dog has a soul though it cannot communicate with us. Remember that whoever feeds the hungry feeds me.”

I am Ever with You Mahlsapathy, one of the closest of Baba’s devotees, went on a to Jejuri with a palki (or palanquin) and a few companions. Much to their consternation, they learned that there was an outbreak of plague and they were very much dejected. Mahlsapathy stood there dumb and sad, leaning against his palki. Suddenly he had a feeling that somebody was standing behind him and turned round. Sai Baba stood there and at once disappeared. Mahlsapathy remembered that Sai Baba was always with him in spirit. They were confident enough to stay on at Jejuri for four complete days and all of them returned to Shirdi safe. 58  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

When Mahlsapathy went to Dwarakamai, Sai Baba smiled and said, “Bhagat, you had a fine pilgrimage. When you stood leaning against the palki I came there.”

The Refuge of His Devotees “Saints exist to give devotees temporal and spiritual benefits,” Baba said. “I have come to give such good things to the devotee.” Once, one of his devotees objected to people going to Baba for worldly benefit. Baba said to him, “Do not do that. My men first come to me for that only. They get their desires fulfilled; and comfortably placed in life, they follow me and progress further. I bring my men to me from long distances under many pleas. I seek them and bring them to me. They do not come (of their own accord). I draw them to me.” These words are law even today.

Aim of Integration The true aim of integration must be an integral perfection or an integral manifestation of the Divine. An integral approach to perfection is based on harmonisation of the methods used for the higher and lower perfections. The traditional spirituality primarily targets the higher perfection and tends to be lifeless. Similarly, the modern education system primarily aims at the lower perfection and tends to be soulless, this is specially so when it is smothered by the utilitarian spirit in which knowledge is sought merely to serve the pressing vital and physical needs of the individual and the society. The modern world seems to have emerged at an educational system which is both lifeless and soulless, with predictable consequences for the material and moral health of the people. In its evolutionary march, what humanity really needs is a system of integrated education which works from both ends, and does not compromise one for the other. Stepping into One World  59

In fact, every Godman or Perfect One appears amidst mankind as the son of man only to correct the race in its understanding of the spirit of the law. Sai was a non-entity for the orthodox among the Hindus and Muslims alike. The Hindus accused him of being in a mosque, of being a Muslim, of not observing Hindu rituals, of tolerating Muslim ways of worship. But some had the ‘eyes to see’ and ‘ears to hear’ the truth of Sai Baba’s mission, and Baba taught them the same lesson which Christ or Buddha did, that the spirit of the law was to purify man’s spirit and the letter of it without the spirit, when observed as a convention, was wasteful. One day, a poor Brahmin approached Baba for money. Baba handed him a packet of mutton and said to him “Go and eat it at home with your children; but don’t open it on the way.” The Brahmin was unaware of the contents of the packet. After taking leave of Baba he could not check his curiosity. So he sat near a stream and opened the packet and was shocked to find mutton in it. In disgust he threw it in the stream. But he was amazed to see that when it touched the water, it turned into gold and sank into its depth. The piece of mutton is symbolic of Baba’s teaching: It is precious, though to the orthodox, it looks unworthy. Similarly on one ekadashi day (eleventh day after the full or newmoon, auspicious to the Hindus) a devotee named Jog asked Baba what dish should be prepared as holy offering to him. Baba said, “Prepare onion kichadi.” Onion is a prohibited item of food, especially for a Brahmin. Yet Jog obeyed Baba’s order and offered him the same. Baba laughed, tasted a little of it and gave it back saying, “It is good, distribute it to all and you too eat it.” Though Jog always fasted on ekadashi, he obeyed Baba’s command. 60  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

However, such eye-opening pranks were not directed by Baba at the Hindu devotees only. Once a Muslim vowed to Baba that if, by his grace, they had a child, they would visit Shirdi and distribute sweets to all in his name. Shortly after, they had a child and so the family visited Shirdi to fulfil their vow. Baba asked them to distribute peda (milk-cake) in the Maruti temple opposite the mosque. The Muslim devotee was taken aback and said, “As Muslims, how can we go to a to fulfil our vow?” Baba good humouredly said, “There was a fight between Allah and Maruti; Maruti defeated Allah (so the former deserves to be honoured).” The Muslim couple was very averse to his command. So Baba flared up, rushed to beat the Muslim, saying, “What a Muslim (i.e., the faithful) you are! Go and distribute it there!” The Muslim realised what Baba meant, and distributed the sweet in the temple. The significance of Baba’s words become evident if we understand the utterly unreasonable attitude of the devotee. On the one hand, he beseeched Baba for a child, which Baba honoured. The interruption of their earlier faith by the latter doubt is ruinous to any faithful ones. This idea of Baba is more clearly expressed in another curious incident. One day a party of Muslims arrived at the mosque for a namaz and at the same time a group of Hindus also arrived for bhajan (devotional chanting). Each party complained against the other. Baba patiently heard them both and remarked, “Neither your bhajan, nor their namaz is worth the name, get out!” Tatya, one of the intimate devotees of Baba, was very orthodox and regularly observed fast on ekadashi days. But once he came into contact with Baba, the latter invariably gave him something to eat on the days of fasting so that he was obliged Stepping into One World  61 to stop fasting. We have to realise that Baba was not propagating heresy. Baba’s attitude to tradition can best be seen in his answers to the questions put to him by Madhavarao alias Shama. Once Shama asked Baba whether it was true that there were fifty crores of Yadavas in Dwaraka as mentioned in the . “Baba, Prof. Narke says that the account given by the Puranas is false.” But Baba replied: “No, it is all true. Even Rama and Krishna did really exist.” On another occasion Shama asked Baba, “Baba, is it true that one crore of vanara (monkey) army assembled at the time of Rama’s war against the demon king ? How could so many assemble in one place?” Baba admitted that it was true that so many of them had assembled and that he personally saw them gathering one above the other, as ants do. Shama said: “How could you witness what happened so long ago? If you were there then how are you here now?” Baba: “Innumerable births went by for you and for me. You don’t know them but I do. I was as I am now.” On yet another occasion Shama asked: “Are and Brahma lokas real? If they are, you must show me those. For, they say that when compared with those worlds, this one of ours is trivial.” Baba: “Don’t worry about them for when compared with God they are still more trivial. For those worlds are also of the same nature as our world (i.e., transient).” Shama: “But you must convince me of the truth of what you say!” 62  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Then Baba asked him to close his eyes. Immediately Shama could see those subtle other worlds. As he went on seeing them Baba proceeded to point out Brahma in the Brahmaloka and told him that it was Satyaloka. Next, he showed him Vishnuloka and pointed out Vishnu seated therein, and Kailash with in it. Finally, Baba ended the vision and told Shama, “These realms of existence are not to be desired by us. What we want is different and still higher.” S.B. Nachne records two interesting incidents which reveals Baba’s shrewdness in combating orthodox intolerance: “In May 1915, I went to Shirdi accompanied by my mother- in-law and others. We were put up at Sathe’s wada and Dada Kelkar was living in a part of the same premises. When my mother-in-law was cutting onions for our meal, Dada Kelkar, an orthodox Brahmin who abhorred onions, got enraged and berated her severely. She took his abuse very much to heart. A few hours later, Dada’s grand-daughter was crying on account of severe pain in her eyes and he went to Baba for relief. Baba then told him to foment her eyes with onion. Dada asked, “Where am I to get an onion?” Baba always kept some onions with him and perhaps Dada hoped to get one from him. But he told Dada to get it from his mother-in-law. She told Baba that Dada had been abusing her that very morning for using onions in her meal, and that she would not care to give him anything— but if it was Baba’s order she would do so. Baba ordered the gift and she had her grand revenge of doing good to one who had so recently lacerated her feelings.” He continued, “When people were assembling for arati at the Masjid, I was among them. Baba asked me to go and take my meal. I said it was ekadashi (the day of fasting). Usually I did not fast on ekadashi days; but my two friends did and I had to Stepping into One World  63 conform to their ways. But Baba did not want me to fast. He said (referring to my companions), ‘These people are mad. You had better go to the wada (resting place) and eat.’ The man at the wada grumbled that I should be clamouring for food on an ekadashi day and would not give me food till arati was over. So I came to the mosque along with him to attend the arati. Baba again asked me if I had eaten but I said it was time for arati and so the meal might be deferred till the completion of the same. Baba said, ‘The arati will begin after you finish your meal.’ The cook had to yield and he gave me food. Then I went to the mosque for the arati. At that time a lady generally known as Mavusi brought beda (i.e., betel leaf and nut) to Baba. Baba gave me some and asked me to eat. As it is customary to avoid chewing betel leaf and nut on ekadashi days I hesitated. Baba said again, ‘Eat it.’ I obeyed and chewed the bedas.” Baba did away with dead traditions and interpreted the good traditions afresh. Sai came ‘not to destroy’ but ‘to fulfil’ the scriptures, fulfilling in both the senses of the word, namely, in re-establishing their infallibility and also supplementing and ‘completing’ them wherever they are inadequate or incomplete. For instance, one of Baba’s Hindu devotees complained that though he tried his best to fulfil the ancient injunction that one should feed an athithi (guest who arrives by chance), sometimes even after waiting or searching for one, he had not often been able to find anyone. Baba said, “Nana, the shastras (sacred laws) are not at fault, nor are the wrong; you have got into your head some worthless interpretation and then stand and wait for guests. (So) they will not turn up. Does the term athithi denote only a man, 3½ cubits high, and of the Brahmin caste only? Athithi is whatever hungry creature comes to you at that time. All these seek food. The real athithi that you get, you do not regard as such. At kakabali time, take plenty of cooked rice 64  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence outside the house and leave it there. Do not shout or call any creature nor drive any away. Do not mind whatever creature comes to eat, thereby you get the merit of feeding lakhs of guests.” Such corrective interpretation was extended by Baba even to sacred texts. Thereby not only did he give a better interpretation of them than were given by earlier scholars, but he also put down the pride of learning of the devotee. Nana Saheb Chandorkar had studied the Bhagavad Gita with commentaries and was proud of it. Baba, one day, pricked the bubble. Those were days before crowds flocked to Baba. Baba: Nana, what are you mumbling to yourself? Nana: I am reciting a verse in Sanskrit from the Bhagavad Gita. Baba: Recite it aloud and explain it to me. Nana then recited verse 34 of Chapter IV of the Bhagavad Gita and said, Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya Upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas -darsinah (Making sashtanga namaskara, or prostration, asking the guru for the teaching, serving him, learn what this jnana (wisdom of the self) is. Then, those (jnanis) that have attained to real knowledge of the sadvastu (Reality or Brahman) will give you upadesh of jnana.) Baba: Nana, is it enough to merely prostrate before the guru? Nana: I do not know of any other meaning for the words pranipata than this. Stepping into One World  65

Baba: If pariprashna means putting questions, what does prashna mean? Nana: The same. Baba: If pariprashna means the same as prashna (question), why did sage Vyasa add the prefix pari? Was Vyasa off his head? Nana: I do not know. Baba: By seva what sort of seva (service) is meant? Nana: Just of the kind we have been rendering you. Baba: Is it enough to render such service? Nana: I do not know what more is meant. Baba: Leave it aside. In the next phrase upadekshyanti te jnanam can you read any other word in lieu of jnanam (without violence to the metre of the verse)? Nana: Yes, one can read it as ajnanam (i.e., ignorance or nascence). But Sri Shankaracharya’s commentary gives no such construction of the verse. Baba: Never mind. Is there any objection to using the word ajnanam if it gives a better sense? Nana: No. But I do not understand how to construct the stanza by substituting the phrase ajnanam for jnanam. Baba: Again, tell me, why does Krishna direct Arjuna to jnanis or tatwadarshis when he himself is a jnani in fact? Nana: Yes. He is. But, I cannot make out why he directed Arjuna to other jnanis. 66  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Nana’s pride of learning was knocked out. Then Baba began to explain the various aspects of the verse thus: 1. It is not enough merely to prostrate before jnanis (enlightened Masters). We must make sarvasya sharanagati (total surrender) to the Sadguru. 2. Mere questioning is not enough. The attitude is important. The question must not be prompted by any improper motive or attitude, namely, to trap the guru and to find fault with his wisdom, or simply out of idle curiosity. The attitude must be sincere and serious, and inspired by a desire to achieve moksha or spiritual perfection. 3. Seva is not rendering service while still retaining the feeling that one is free to offer or refuse service to the Master. One must feel that he is not the master of his body, that the body is the guru’s and exists merely to serve him. If this is done, the Sadguru will show you what the jnana referred to in the previous stanza is. How is jnana upadesh (i.e., imparting of realisation) to be effected by the guru? Destroying ignorance is jnana (wisdom). Saint Jnaneshwar in Chapter 18 in the Jnaneshwari says, ‘Removal of ignorance is like this: O Arjuna, if dream and sleep disappear, you are yourself. It is like that.’ He also says: ‘Is there anything different or independent in jnana besides the destruction of ignorance? Expelling darkness means light. Destroying duality (dvaita) means non-duality (advaita).’ The disciple, like the Sadguru, is really the embodiment of jnana. The difference between the two lies in the attitude, in the high realisation, marvellous superhuman Sattha (Being) and unrivalled capacity and aishwarya (i.e., divine powers). The Sadguru is Nirguna-Sat- Chit-Ananda (Attributeless-Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). He Stepping into One World  67 has indeed taken a human form to elevate mankind and raise the world. But his real nirguna (attributeless) nature is not destroyed thereby even a bit. His beingness (or reality), divine power and wisdom remain undiminished. The disciple also is in fact of the same swarupa (original nature). But, it is overlapped by the effects of the samskaras (tendencies) of innumerable births in the shape of ignorance which hides from his view that he is shuddha chaitanya (Pure Consciousness). As stated therein, he gets the impression, “I am jiva, a creature, humble and poor.” The guru has to root out these offshoots of ignorance and has to give an upadesh or instruction. To the disciple held spellbound for endless generations by the ideas of his being a creature, humble and poor, the guru imparts in hundreds of births, the teaching, “You are God, you are mighty and opulent.” Then, he realises a bit that he is God really. That he is the body, that he is a creature (jiva) or ego, that God (Paramatma) and the world are different from him, is an error inherited by the disciple from innumerable past births. From action based on it, he has derived his joy, sorrow and a mixture of both. To remove this delusion, this error, this root-ignorance, he must start the inquiry, “How did the ignorance arise? Where is it?” And showing him this is called the guru’s upadesh. The following are the instances of ajnana: 1. I am jiva, creature. 2. Body is the soul (I am the body). 3. God, world and jiva are different. 4. I am not God. 5. Not knowing that body is not the soul. 6. Not knowing that God, world and jiva are one. Unless these errors are exposed the disciple cannot learn what are God, jiva, world and body and how they are interrelated, whether 68  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence they are different from each other or are one and the same. To enlighten him and destroy his ignorance is this instruction in jnana or ajnana. Why should jnana be imparted to the jiva (who is) a jnanamurthi or an embodiment of knowledge? Upadesh is merely to show him his error and destroy his ignorance. Baba added: “Pranipata implies surrender of body, mind and wealth. Then why should Krishna refer Arjuna to other jnanis?” “The sadbhakta (true devotee) takes everything to be (Lord of existence) who says in the Bhagavad Gita (Ch. VII v. 19) any guru will be Krishna to the devotee and the guru takes the disciple to be Vasudeva, and Krishna treats both as his prana (Spirit or Life), and atma (Soul or Self). As Krishna knows that there are such bhaktas (devotees) and gurus, he refers Arjuna to them so that their greatness may be known to all.” Bhishma was a widower who lived in Nagpur. Though he was drawn to Baba he could not overcome his notion that Baba was a Muslim. As a result he could not take, as many others did, the water that was consecrated by being used to wash Baba’s feet. He could not accept, too, the smoking pipe (chillum) that Baba offered to devotees. On a full-moon day, Bhishma had a dream in which he saw a man with tripundra (or the Vaishnava mark on his forehead). This man performed puja (or worship) to the holy man’s wooden sandal (paduka). The holy one showed him a paper on which a mantra was written. It was Satchidananda. As soon as he read it, the mantra disappeared from the paper and Bhishma woke up from his dream. When he asked a about his dream and the mantra he had seen, the latter told him that it is the name of the guru he had seen in his dream and that the name of a perfect guru is also a mantra. Stepping into One World  69

After some days Bhishma came to Shirdi. On seeing him Sai Baba smiled and said, “Jai Satchidananda!” Bhishma immediately realised Baba’s omniscience and his transcendence over the narrow barriers of caste and creed. As soon as this realisation dawned in his mind, Sai immediately nodded and said, “We are moving all over. There’s Rama (or the Spirit of Lord Sri Rama) everywhere.” Since then Bhishma also started accepting from Baba such favours as the chillum from which he smoked.

Sai Power Enthralling for a Cosmic Family The widespread devotion to Sai Baba today is chiefly the work of his tomb which ‘moves’ and ‘speaks’ with his devotees. F. M. Bhangara was a devout Parsi who had a high regard for saints. But his wife was orthodox and had no such faith. In 1956, he kept a calendar bearing Sai Baba’s picture in their bedroom, but he neither knew nor paid any respect to the saint. One day, at 6 a.m., he bowed to Baba and was surprised at his own act for he knew nothing of Baba. He did not mention it to his wife for fear of raising an argument about it. Next morning, he noticed that the calendar was garlanded and asked his wife about it. She said that while she was cleaning the pictures in the house, she twice heard a mysterious voice from the picture, “Child, garland me regularly; it will do you good,” and she obeyed it. A friend heard of their experience and suggested to keep the picture in their shrine on a Thursday. He did so and his wife garlanded it every day. One day the mysterious voice asked her what she sought. She wished for the welfare of her husband and the birth of a son. Within a week, of his own accord, the superior officer recommended a rise in Bhangara’s salary. In June 1957 they were blessed with a son. All their problems were solved when they 70  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence prayed to Baba and even the most trivial wishes were fulfilled. Many got their problems resolved through Bhangara. Yet he sometimes wondered whether the messages were his own fancies. One day he had to go to an official camp. His wife insisted that he should return by evening. When he bowed to Baba the voice said, “Son, you can’t return today.” To test whether it was a message from Baba, he set out at 7.30 a.m. When the car had to stop at a level-crossing, a gentleman got down from a state transport bus and got into Bhangara’s car saying that he was in a hurry to reach his destination sooner. While travelling on a ghat road, the car took a turn and the brakes failed completely. The car raced down the slope with increasing speed. There was a deep valley on one side and a hill on the other. The driver told them not to get panicky and that he would try to dash the car against the hill in the safest possible manner. But whenever he tried to do so some vehicle or the other came up on that side and they narrowly missed a collision. Bhangara recollected Baba’s message and felt that it signified his imminent death. Being a palmist, Bhangara remembered that his hand indicated sudden death at that time. He desperately prayed, “Baba, I know that I have to die some day. Yet at least for the sake of my family you have to save my life this time. I shall not henceforth doubt your messages.” One of the tyres of the car hit a stone on the road and stopped. The driver changed the tyre and they reached their destination in seven hours. There was no chance for Bhangara to return home that evening!

 8. Then, Now and Forever

Deep at the bottom of the murky caves of ignorance and unawareness, he slept enveloped in its darkness but the rays of light and knowledge were gradually nevertheless persistently radiating from him and spreading into the inconscience and embedding in all the elements in and out to begin there the work of awakening. In fact the understanding of the world and its beholder is not so easy but it becomes so by coming near ‘HIM’. He who tread on this earth of husk and dust with the most downtrodden and the elite together without difference in heart and behaviour, he is the first and the complete form of His own Self. He is, so to say, the first universal Avatar who has gradually assumed more and more conscious bodies and finally manifested in a kind of recognised line of Beings who have descended directly from the Supreme to perfect this work of preparing the universe so that, through a continuous progression, it may become ready to receive and manifest the Supramental Light in its eternity. Every country, every tradition, every culture has presented the event in a very special way, though the limitations respected are different, the horizons explored are different, the sketching of the details is different and so are particular features, but truly speaking, as one digs deeper and deeper into it, the source of origin of all the stories seems to be one and one only. Without 72  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence going through the intermediaries, in order to awaken this Matter to the receptivity of the Divine Forces, we could call this a direct and a conscious intervention of the Supreme in the mysterious concern. The (Oriental) myths and mythologies are full of stories of birth and deeds of many incarnations, but a more careful look into them brings to light a fact that the intervals separating these various incarnations seem to become shorter and shorter, sometimes to the extent that if the Matter becomes more and more ready, the action becomes more and more rapid in its movement, more and more conscious too, more effective and decisive. And it will go on multiplying and intensifying until the entire universe becomes the total Avatar of the Supreme, ‘The SAI’. Yes, when we look into the life and teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi, we are in no doubt that he is the ultimate form, the total Avatar of the Supreme. The terms evolution and Avatarhood seem to be complementing each other, rather or complete form can be seen as a part of evolution itself. The procession of ten Vishnu Avatars in is itself a of evolution. First the fish avatar, then the amphibious animal between the land and water, then the terrestrial animal, then after the lion-man avatar, bridging man and animal, then man as dwarf, small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the Godhead and taking possession of existence, then the rajasic, sattvic, and nirguna Avatars, leading the human development from the vital rajasic to the sattvic intellectual man and again the over-cerebral superman. Man is a mere being and at the same time the most powerful creation of the Almighty, who entangles himself into endless wretchedness and miseries and does not know the way of Then, Now and Forever  73 deliverance. All his life he runs after a mirage and dies in illusion and chimera as deluded by maya. He forgets his real and the eternal nature which is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, and thinks that he is the doer and enjoyer. This human soul transcends as the three qualities, namely, sattvic, rajasic, and nirguna. The only way of deliverance is the loving devotion towards the Guru’s feet. Though man himself built the walls of misery and got himself caught in them to struggle for salvation, there is an infinite Grace constantly at work to bring out of the misery, the obscurity, and the stupidity in which lies the world today. This radiation of His Grace has been unceasing in its efforts and unswervingly at work and will be so till this world of unawareness and ignorance awakens to feel the need of something greater, truer, and more beautiful. Everyone can gauge from the resistance he meets in his own Being. It is remarkable that the wonderful evolutionary Being strangely resembles the Being who is at the other extremity, at the confines of the form and the formless. The great Player, or Actor, Lord Sai, has delighted his people and transformed them into his nature. Lord Sai was originally formless. He assumed a form for the sake of delivering people from the gross level to a higher spiritual level. The Great Actor runs the show on the big stage of the universe with the help of his maya, giving the effect of the mysterious illusions and delusions.

Aim of Creation The earth is a kind of symbolic crystallisation of universal life, a reduction, a concentration, so that the work of evolution may be easier to follow. If we look at the history of the earth, we can understand why the universe has been created. It is the Supreme growing aware of himself in an eternal becoming; and the goal 74  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence is the union of the created with the Creator (Sai), a union that is conscious, willing and free, in the manifestation. That is the secret of Him. Let us look at the gardening of Baba at Bootty Wada (Samadhi Mandir). He used to pour water for the plants where now he is in Samadhi. He was conscious enough for the union of the creation. First he created the avenue which is the creation and then he manifested eternally. He takes up this creation, which appears to be totally inconscient but which contains the Supreme Consciousness and sole Reality and He works so that all this can develop, become self-aware and realise itself fully. But he was not showing it from the very beginning. It develops gradually, and that is why at the start it is a secret which will be unveiled as it nears the end. And man has reached a point in the evolution high enough for this secret to be unveiled and for what was done in an apparent inconscience to be done consciously, willingly, and therefore much more rapidly and in the joy of realisation. In man one can already see that the spiritual reality is being developed and that it is going to express itself totally and freely. Formerly, in the animal and the plant, it was necessary to be very clear-sighted to see it, but man is himself conscious of this spiritual reality, at least in the higher part of his human existence.

The Universal Actor Sai Baba’s love for his devotees was indeed great. He wielded great power over the elements, and saw that no harm befell the devotees through them. The following story bears testimony to it. Once Hemadpant saw Sai Baba praying to Indra, the god of thunder, lightning and clouds. Soon the sky was overcast and dark, becoming darker as minutes ticked by. The birds and Then, Now and Forever  75 animals appeared stricken with fear. Soon a fierce gale was followed by heavy showers, a whirlwind, great commotion, thunder, lightning, and a squally wind. The showers turned to a very heavy downpour causing consternation and fear among the people and animals. The mosque soon became overcrowded, both inside and outside. Everything was soaking wet, crops, plants, people, animals and birds, rooftops, etc. Huddling together in fear under the eaves of the mosque, and inside the mosque, the people had gathered there in supplication to Baba to deliver them of their fear and the storm. As he fed on their sincere love and faith, he was moved to compassion. He rose from his seat, and standing on the raised front portion of the mosque, he roared to the gods in the highest pitch, so loud as to reverberate in the skies, and set even the mosque shaking. With his loud voice resounding, the rains gradually abated, the wind receded, and the sky cleared. Soon clusters of stars appeared in the sky, and the rain stopped completely. There was absolute peace in Shirdi, and even the animals and birds were at peace. The people thanked Baba profusely and returned to their homes. Such is Baba’s kindness and greatness! Baba had complete control over fire too, as the following story will bear out. At midday, one day, the fire in the dhuni flared up suddenly, turning soon into an inferno, with the flames licking the rafters in the ceiling. Soon the mosque looked like being reduced to ashes. Yet Baba sat there, unruffled and at peace. People ran to fetch water to douse the fire, yet no one had the courage to pour it into the fire for fear of the sataka (baton) coming down heavily upon them. They were agitated and apprehensive, but lacked the courage to approach Baba. Baba finally stirred, and picking up his sataka, he struck hard at the column that stood just at arm’s length from the dhuni. 76  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

He stared at the flame, saying, “Calm down, calm down!” With every stroke at the column, the fire, seemingly cowering, lost its fierceness, and soon the dhuni became calm. People heaved a sigh of relief, thanking Baba for ridding them of their fear. Baba, the compassionate, had once again answered their prayer. Sai Baba was full of perfect joy, an incarnation of knowledge itself, being most sacred. He was the Perfect One, the destroyer of the fear of worldly life, and the propensities of this age. He created fear and dispelled it too, as one can see from the raging storm and fire, and then peace prevailing. He set up the quern to grind corn, by which he could guide his devotees on the path of righteousness. Indeed, his skill was remarkable! A darshan of him always brought great joy and satisfaction. His company signified enjoyment of bliss as he liberated people from the fear of worldly life and created an awareness of a spiritual way of life.

The Omnipresent and Omnipotent There were many forms of service Sai Baba rendered to the village folk. He ploughed the common land, on which his Samadhi Mandir now stands, and turned it into a flower garden. This he himself nurtured, watering the plants, carrying pots of water on his shoulder for watering them. Never making any invidious distinction between Hindus and Muslims, he sent the flowers and leaves from his garden to temples and masjids. His attitude towards all was motherly, and he considered all castes, creeds, sects, religions as non-existent or trivial, for he was in a supreme realised state. He always lit up three or four earthen lamps in the mosque, as was the custom common to both Hindu and Muslim faiths. Hence, he went around the village begging for oil from oil vendors. There were only two shops which sold oil in Shirdi. Then, Now and Forever  77

One day, some of them decided to have fun at his expense, little realising the consequences. They refused to supply him with oil, saying that they had none. The young fakir returned to the mosque without uttering a word of protest. Those who intended to watch the fun, followed him to the mosque. Baba filled the four lamps with the water from the jar that was kept there. He placed a cotton wick in each, and lighted the lamps. To everyone’s amazement the lamps burned brightly. The sudden nudging and tittering gave place to great awe, and realising Baba’s divinity, they fell at his feet, seeking his pardon. There was no more talk then of the fakir as ‘crazy’. They recognised ‘the diamond in the dungheap’, as a man of great power. They soon found that he was a unique saint and teacher with boundless compassion for the lesser beings. These devotees, being true to their Guru, served him by carrying faggots, cooking, sweeping, lighting up the fire, washing his clothes, and other menial jobs with great joy, devotion and complacency. All this Baba accepted for he had no attachment or self-conceit, and realised himself as the pure soul that cannot be tainted by such service. He was the God-realised being of the highest level, working to benefit humanity. Baba became all that he was by feeding on bhakti alone. This bhakti that transformed into jnana served his purposes. As a child, he must have received a lot of love from the fakir and his wife who brought him up, and later, from his Guru, Venkusa. The absolute dependence and trust, first in the fakir and later in Venkusa, made him a great saint as he grew up. In this deep trust and love, there was no place for jealousy, hatred, envy and the like. The long period of ten or twelve years at Selu under the tutelage of Venkusa sufficed to complete Baba’s training for reaching the perfection of God, so that whoever he came into 78  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence contact with, he could turn them into the model of his soul or likeness. There were times he would tie anklets with bells, and sing rapturous songs with a kanjira (a small, flat drum played with one hand) in hand. He revelled in songs of Kabir, Arabic and others through which he expressed his love. He had stopped his nightly dance at the Takia, but this trait lingered in him for decades. In 1910, when Rangri of Thana paid him a visit, Baba mentioned that the holy songs sung by the devotees the previous night had drowned him with overflowing love. Baba refers to his obtaining the vision of God due to which He gave up the practice of herbal cures for diseases, and administering only udhi (holy ash) and bestowal of grace. His self- absorption and concentrative trance led him to sakshatkara or vision of God. He had various siddhis (supernatural powers) and could leave his body at will and return to it later. And the very faithful and true devotees who spent long hours in blissful communion with Baba had an extremely happy and painless death. An instant in case is Dikshit, and an interesting narration is given about him. Dikshit and Hemadpant (alias Anna Saheb Dhabolkar) went to Ville Parle to board a train. They were late by three minutes, but fortunately for them, the train was also late by three minutes. Having boarded the train and settled down in comfortable seats, Dikshit remarked how gracious it was of Baba to have delayed the train so that they could both board it. Soon Dikshit shut his eyes and the light went out of his life. Hemadpant, thinking him to be asleep, went to put cushions behind his back, but found him lifeless. His death was so peaceful, with words of gratitude for Baba during death, showing thereby that he had reached Baba. Then, Now and Forever  79

Baba slept, for a large part of his life, on a plank that was suspended from the roof by flimsy strips of old cloth. It hung six feet above the ground, and some lamps were placed loosely on it. No doubt Baba levitated to get on to it, and to stay on it without breaking the flimsy ropes. His sleep, therefore, cannot have been a normal one. He was never in need of going into samadhi to attain a higher status or knowledge. He was always exercising a dual consciousness, one dealing with other egos in temporal or spiritual affairs, and the other abiding in the state of Universal Soul. He was forever exercising and exhibiting the powers and features of both states of consciousness. Unlike other states, he was always in the all-knowing state. Being in a state of permanent Divine Knowledge, normal sleep was not necessary for him. So Baba was not asleep at night but in a constant state of levitation and samadhi, keeping a vigil on his devotees and showering his grace upon them.

Then and Now Though Baba led the life of a simple fakir, dressed in torn clothes, and lived on alms at Shirdi, he showed by example that all living creatures have the same soul, and hence should be loved, cared for and helped by all. His divine assurance to his devotees that merely by remembering him at the hour of need, he would help them, is a source of eternal inspiration to millions of people around the world. Sai Baba not only guides, helps and liberates devotees who earnestly pray to him, but he blesses them with his divine grace. Being very human, Baba showed his sympathy and compassion for all living and non-living things. He lived amongst them, mixing with them freely, participating in festivals, processions, dance and musical activities, and eating with them. Outwardly he looked very young, but by his action he was really a great soul. 80  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

He was the embodiment of dispassion and was an enigma to all. People soon discovered by their experiences of his divine miracles and compassionate help that he was beyond an ordinary saint, a divine personality of a very high order. Uttering the name of Allah most of the time, he always advocated the worship and veneration of God, by whatever name they called Him. Sai Baba was the personification of perfection. He was the embodiment of Universal Consciousness. He was a Poornavatar (Full or Integral Incarnation of God) and possessed the attributes of Divine Shakti (Power). Siddhis (miracles) and leelas (sport) were merely outpourings of his love for his devotees. They were not meant to attract but only to safeguard and protect. He did not use them like visiting cards. He used his Shakti only to save the devotees from distress and trouble, from sorrow and pain. His advent was for revealing divinity. Baba disliked the practice of untouchability, dowry, religious conversions and , casteism, and the traditional barring of women in certain matters of worship and social life. He announced that all gods and goddesses are within him, for he is Krishna, he is Shiva, he is , he is Brahman, he is the Divine Being in this age. An instance in point follows. Balwant C. Kohojkar, a retired officer, came to Shirdi in 1911, when Datta Jayanti was celebrated. Around 5 p.m., while all sat around Baba in the mosque, Baba suddenly cried out, “I am having the pain of labour! I cannot bear it! I am about to be delivered.” Soon, he asked everyone to vacate the mosque, and after sometime, he summoned them in. He seemed immensely pleased, and when Balwant trooped in with others, he was astonished to see the three-faced figure of Datta in Baba’s seat. Then, Now and Forever  81

In a trice, this image disappeared, and Baba appeared seated in his place. Today, Shirdi Sai Baba’s name has spread worldwide, and ‘Sai Shelters’ are devoted to him throughout the world. Once Bapu Saheb Jog asked Sai Baba, “I have served you faithfully all these years, with great devotion. How will I know when its fruits come?” Baba replied, “That fruition will bring joy to both of us, but that will be when you don a kafni and beg for your food like I do.” The significance of this statement was that Bapu Sahib Jog should free himself from all worldly and sensory attachments, and identify himself with God. Baba, who had realised his identity with the Imperishable, said, “I got embodied by karma, and came to a body. So I got a name and abode. Dehi, that is, the embodied, is My name; and the world is My abode. Brahman is My father and Maya, mother. I am the Attributeless, Absolute, Nirguna. I have no name and no residence.” Mrs. Tarabai Sadashiv Tarkhad stated of Baba, “One’s first impression of Baba was derived from his eyes. There was such power and penetration in his glance that none could continue to look at his eyes. One felt that Sai Baba was reading him or her through and through, and soon one lowered one’s eyes and bowed down.” Sai Baba was satiated in all his desires, fulfilled, content with what was ordained, constantly self-absorbed, and beyond joys and sorrows. As Mrs. Tarkhad says, “Not only was he present at all places when his physical body was in one place, say the mosque, but he was also able to do various things with his invisible body.” 82  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Sai Baba was, and is, always there, to place his hand of benediction on one’s head as one would place it on his feet in total surrender. To quote Mrs. Tarkhad again, “One felt that he was not only in one’s heart but in every atom of one’s body. A few words, a gesture would reveal to one that Sai Baba knew all about the past, present and even future and about everything else. There was nothing else to do for one, except to submit trustfully and to surrender oneself to him. And there he was to look after every minute detail, and guide one safe, through every turn and every vicissitude of life. He was the Antaryami, call him God or Satpurusha in Sahaja Stithi or what you like. But the over- powering personality was there, and in his presence no doubts, no fears, no questioning had any place and one resigned oneself and found that was the only course, the safest and the best course. “His Antaryamitva, i.e., his being inside every creature and every object, animate or inanimate, so as to control all voluntary and involuntary movements of creatures and objects, throw light on what he occasionally said of himself, “I am not confined within the three and a half cubit length of flesh, bone and blood that people call Sai Baba. I am in every dog, cat, pig, man and woman.” As a personification of the highest renunciation, Sai Baba is the protector of all his devotees. In innumerable ways Baba tried to bring to the devotees a comprehension of the Formless One. According to the level that one had reached spiritually, he would treat them likewise. For instance, he would make them sit apart, he would deny darshan to some for long periods, he would send one away from Shirdi for a certain period, confine another in solitude in Shirdi itself, someone else confined to the wada and made to read the Pothi (sacred text) regularly. The reason behind these strange ways was Then, Now and Forever  83 to create in them, after pursuing such a deep study over the years, a great longing for Baba’s presence in an unmanifest form, always feeling his presence while eating, sitting or sleeping. Nothing was beyond him or concealed from him in the past, present and future. His awareness exceeded the bounds of our space and time—extended over all the worlds and embraced the distant past and future as well as the present. He knew, therefore, what existence lay in any of the world’s enjoyment, and with such knowledge he renounced all attachment. He was perfectly detached, amidst numerous attractions. His life was, therefore, real vairagya and real nishkama karma. Baba was always calm, remarkably unruffled, guileless, forgiving to the utmost, forbearing by nature, and self-contained. Being omniscient, and omnipresent, he could go off to space in an invisible body. He was living and operating in other worlds also, besides this world and in an invisible body. He was frequently talking. In the morning, sitting near his dhuni (fire) with several devotees, he would say to what distant place he went overnight and what he had done. Those who had slept by his side the whole night at the Masjid or Chavadi knew that his physical body was at Shirdi all the night. But his statements were literally true and were occasionally verified and found to be true. He had travelled to distant places in an invisible, i.e., spirit form and rendered help there. He also made occasional references to what his function was in the terrestrial sphere and in other worlds. He several times referred to his control of the destinies of departed souls— indicating thereby his function in the Cosmic Order. Sai Baba never spoke untruth, never spoke meaningless jargon.” Sai Baba was every moment exercising a double consciousness, one actively utilising the Ego called Sai Baba and 84  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence dealing with other egos in temporal and spiritual affairs, and the other entirely superseding all egos and resting in the position of the Universal Soul or Ego. He used and manifested all the powers and potentials incidental to both the states of unconsciousness. Baba did not claim to be God, for he always said, “Allah Malik hai”, and that he was a mere servant of Him, but to a devotee, he appeared to be God. Baba always insisted that there could be no spiritual liberation from bondage if one did not acquire moral freedom. Baba was himself the refuge and support for all his devotees. He was indulgent, caring for their feelings. Though appearing to be stationed in Shirdi, he moved everywhere quite freely. Detached and unruffled as he was, he would accept from them the various rituals of puja, from each according to his faith. He allowed them to wash his hands and feet, apply sandalpaste on his forehead, wave the fan gently to keep away flies from him, play musical instruments, etc. Sai Baba’s life on earth was totally devoid of blame or sin, for he was a wonderful model of ethical perfection. He showed by example that he was a great unifying and universalising force. He taught them the values of brotherhood and the means to overcome petty barriers between man and man. His tolerant views, universality and non-discrimination are a unique and matchless phenomena. He taught people how to recognise the presence of the Divinity in all beings.

 9. The Ultimate Harmony

Man has reached a stage in which the mind has achieved in certain directions an enormous development, while in others, it stands arrested and can no longer find its way. He has harmonised life in the past by organised ideation and limitation; a greater consciousness to meet and master the increasing potentialities of existence and harmonise them. The inner change can be brought about only by the development of the soul in man which is his true being—unity for the human race by an inner oneness and not only by an external association of interests. Man wastes away half his life sleeping, and in the remaining half, he squanders away precious time in useless pursuits. Very few have understood the purpose of our human birth. We all are born, brought up till we assume our responsibilities, then eat, drink, breathe, work and continue till we die. Then how are we different from animals and birds who too function likewise? We, as mortals, are blessed with an intellect, and our purpose in life is to realise our Self, and then our goal is attainment of the Supreme, which is the highest achievement. Man is fearless, free and everlasting—a realised being will understand this to be true. To have this awareness itself is the fulfilment of this birth. It is necessary for man to ask himself a few essential questions, like, who am I? Where do I come? Why have I taken this human birth? 86  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

Just like the flame of a candle appears to be the same from the beginning to the end, but undergoes change, so does the body in its lifetime. Very few people are actually aware of the three states of life—childhood, youth and old age. The body that encases all the organs is shortlived, and it is destructible and transient. But it also carries a mind, an intellect, and is the only means of attaining God. And this is the one vital factor that sets humans apart from and above animals and birds. But all go through birth and death, and one’s lifespan is wholly in God’s hands. But one’s lifespan can be utilised well, by listening to stories about saints, emulating them, and trying to understand one’s purpose in life. When one becomes aware of this, this itself becomes an advantage of being born a human. Yet one has to experience it personally to be convinced of the truth of it. And one has to make an indepth study even to get this experience. Therefore, to attain everlasting happiness, one should attempt to achieve this glory. The evolutionary trend must increase with the tension of the crisis in human world destiny; the need of an escape or a solution, the feeling that there is no other solution than the spiritual cannot but grow and become more imperative.

The Ultimate Truth In the old narratives, the evolutionary Being is described as stretched out in a deep sleep at the bottom of a very dark cave. In His sleep there emanated from Him prismatic rays of light which gradually spread into the Inconscience and embedded themselves in all the elements of this Inconscience to begin there the work of Awakening. If one consciously enters this Inconscient, one can still see there this same marvellous Being, still in seemingly deep sleep, The Ultimate Harmony  87 continuing His work of emanation, spreading His Light; and He will continue to do it until the Inconscience is no longer Inconscient, until darkness disappears from the world and the whole creation awakens to the Supramental Consciousness. It is remarkable that this wonderful Being strangely resembles the Being who is at the other extremity, at the confines of the Form and the Formless. In fact, this Being is the origin of all avatars (Incarnations of God). He is, so to say, the first Universal Avatar who, gradually, has assumed more and more conscious bodies and finally manifested in a kind of recognised line of Beings who have descended directly from the Supreme to perfect this work of preparing the universe so that, through a continuous progression, it may become ready to receive and manifest the Supramental Light in its entirety. In every country, every tradition, the event has been presented in a special way, with different limitations, different details, particular features, but truly speaking, the origin of all these stories is the same. This is what we could call a direct, conscious intervention of the Supreme in the darkest matter, without going through all the intermediaries, in order to awaken this Matter to the receptivity of the Divine Forces. The intervals separating these various incarnations seem to become shorter and shorter, as if, to the extent that if Matter became more and more ready, the action could accelerate and become more and more rapid in its movement, more and more conscious too, more effective and decisive. And it will go on multiplying and intensifying until the entire universe becomes the total avatar of the Supreme. Yes, when we look into the life and teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi, we are in no doubt that He is the total avatar of the Supreme. One day at noon, after arati, 88  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence devotees were returning to their lodgings, when Baba gave the following advice: “Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose, remember this well that all that you do is known to Me. I am the Inner Ruler of all and seated in your hearts. I am the envelope of all the creatures, the movable and immovable world, I am the Controller—the Wire-puller of the show of this Universe. I am the Mother—the Origin of all beings, the Harmony of three gunas, the propeller of all scenes, the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention towards Me, but maya will lash or whip him who forget Me. All the insects, ants, the visible, the invisible, the movable and immovable world is My Body Form.” Avatarhood would have little meaning if it were not connected with the evolution. The Hindu procession of the ten avatars is itself, as it were, a parable of evolution. First the Fish Avatar, then the amphibious animal between land and water, then the terrestrial animal, then the Man-Lion Avatar, bridging man and animal, then man as dwarf, small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the Godhead and taking possession of existence, then the rajasic, sattvic, nirguna avatars, leading the human development from the vital rajasic to the sattvic mental man and again the over-mental superman. This human soul transcends as the three qualities, namely, sattvic, rajasic and nirguna, but being deluded by maya he forgets his nature which is ‘Existence-Knowledge-Bliss’, and thinks that he is the doer and enjoyer: and thus entangles himself in endless miseries and does not know the way of deliverance. The only way of deliverance is the Loving Devotion towards the Guru’s feet. Just as the sun only gives light, which all the stars put together cannot do, so the Sadguru alone imparts spiritual, wisdom, which The Ultimate Harmony  89 all the sacred books and sermons cannot do. His movements and simple talks give us ‘silent’ advice. The virtues of forgiveness, calmness, disinterestedness, charity, benevolence, control of mind and body, egolessness, etc., are observed by the disciples as they are being practised in such pure and holy company. This enlightens their minds and lifts them up spiritually. Though he acted as a fakir (mendicant), Sai Baba was always engrossed in the Self. His greatness is indescribable. He was not in the least attached to his body or house. He was the same in prosperity and adversity. He always loved all animate and inanimate things in the universe. He treated all creatures without any differentiation. To describe this, let us look at the way Baba used to beg his food from the houses of Shirdi. He was always compassionate to all. He went around from door to door, collecting alms and food. He carried a jholi (bag) in which he collected dry food, and a tumbler in which he collected milk, vegetables, etc. This shows that he ate only to subsist, to satisfy his hunger, denoting that he had conquered the sense of taste. The food that he collected would be put into a wide-mouthed earthen pot in the mosque, from which a sweeper, who swept the mosque, crows, pigs, etc., ate before Baba ate the same food. His greatness lay in being friendly, compassionate, considerate and generous to everyone, without any expectations from them, except God-realisation. In the whole manifestation there is an infinite Grace constantly at work to bring the world out of the misery, the obscurity and the stupidity in which it lies. From all time this Grace has been at work, unceasing in its effort, and how many thousands of years were necessary for this world to awaken to the need for something greater, more true, more beautiful. Everyone can gauge, from the resistance he meets in his own being, the 90  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence tremendous resistance which the world opposes to the work of the Grace. Lord Sai was originally formless. He manifested for taking people from the gross level to a higher spiritual level. With the help of the maya, he played the role of the Actor in the evolution of the universe.

Actor in the Evolution of the Universe Sai Baba took form in this world with a definite purpose, a mission to fulfil, so that His love and light may be assimilated by all. His great purpose in life was to benefit humanity. In his quiet, unassuming way, he laid the solid foundation of human unity, prescribing both by example and precept valuable remedies for human’s welfare. He gave his devotees a common bond of love for him, after having shown them the essence of spirituality. His life and teachings embodied the most forcible exposition of the underlying unity of all communities and creeds of the world. People failed to attain the highest goal of human life since they failed to observe dharma, and hence Baba had to incarnate in human form to re-establish dharma. In various corners of the earth, people had started indulging in vices, totally neglecting opportunities for self-upliftment, ignoring their health hazards and early symptoms of ill-health, and turning away from the spiritual path by centring their interest in wealth, family and prosperity. Sai then descended on earth to emancipate such souls, to uplift the low and the poor, and to lay a solid foundation around the crumbling structure of worldly life, so that the devotees were redeemed of their noxious ways. Baba’s simple, yet spiritually evolved way of life with its supreme detachment and renunciation, and his style of functioning, imparting spiritual instruction and guidance to the The Ultimate Harmony  91 devotees through experiences and instances in their daily life have a lasting appeal. Incarnating age after age, for protecting the good and destroying the evil, he established once again righteousness in the world. His devotees absorbed more and more of his nature by his constantly residing in their hearts, so that they grew more into life, light and love. This evolvement was quite infectious, affecting the lives of those around them in such a way as to bring out the goodness in others. All who came in contact with them grew into morally and spiritually better beings.

Humaneness Baba lived amidst common folk as a penniless fakir, wearing a torn kafni, sleeping on a mat, resting his head on the brick that was his lifelong companion, and begging for alms. In his lifetime he had no possessions, did not accept any specific school of thought or discipline, and attached no importance to caste, creed, doctrines, dogmas or status. Mahlsapathy, the pujari of Khandoba temple, and a great devotee of Saint Kabir, had often read Kabir’s dohas in which there was frequent mention of Sai. When he met Sai Baba for the first time at Shirdi, he welcomed him by saying “Welcome Sai.” In this way, the fakir got the same ‘Sai’ tagged on to the name Baba. Mahlsapathy gave him arati every day. But some fanatics threatened to kill him if anyone entered the mosque to worship Baba. Mahlsapathy, very shy and timid by nature, worshipped Baba from a distance. Sizing up the situation, Baba summoned him and assured him that no harm would come to him as his protection was there. Then he struck the floor with his sataka and shouted loudly. The fanatics who had gathered outside with sticks 92  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence to bash Mahlsapathy to death, ran away in fear. Mahlsapathy was still apprehensive and feared to go home alone, wary of an ambush. Baba then assured him with these words, “No one here or elsewhere, either in this or your future births will cause you any harm. I will be guarding you with a thousand eyes, and you may go home without any fear.” And Mahlsapathy, reposing total faith in him, went home with no fear whatsoever.

Spiritual Life A true spiritual life is independent of all precise, intellectual and limited forms of life. It embraces all possibilities and manifestations and makes them the expression, the vehicle of a higher and more universal truth. All world religions have saved a number of souls, but none yet has been able to spiritualise mankind. A new spiritual life must be created, which is beyond intellectual limits and mental formulae. For that there is the need of a sustained and all-comprehending effort at spiritual self- evolution. One spiritual community should be formed which will consist of individuals aspiring for a total and integral consecration of their being and nature to the Divine. The true spiritual approach is above all religions, cults or creeds and strives towards a global Truth and permits one to enter into direct relation with the Divine. “If only you will utter ‘Sai, Sai’ all the time, I will, with my grace, present you even the seven seas (protect you beyond the seven seas). Trust these words of mine, and you will achieve your welfare, most certainly. I do not need either all the elaborate articles of puja, or the ceremonies or rites of puja. Where there is boundless faith, I abide there.” So spoke Sai Baba. These pearls of wisdom will benefit mankind if only one reposes utter faith in him and seeks his guidance. The Ultimate Harmony  93

Baba’s teachings were simple, and even a layman could follow them without hesitation. For a layman, he advocated the bhakti marga (the path of devotion) wherein the worshipper had to be wholly devoted to him, chanting the name, and serving God with love. He showed by parables the importance of identifying the guru with God, that it was seeing God in and through the guru. The guru is the medium to realise yourself. If you repose faith in him and surrender to him totally so that even your body ceases to be yours, he will take charge of your ship and steer it across the ocean of life. He who does not feel that ‘I am different, people are different,’ who sees this world as one, filled with the one and same spirit, finds that there is nothing which is separate from himself. Give up any idea of duality. Baba said, “I alone am; there is not a place where I am not; I pervade all the ten directions. Nothing exists apart from Me.” This is one idea which each one of us must hold on to. Even the slightest trace of duality in the mind will destroy this complete Oneness, and at once create a sense of differentiation that brings about the cause of births and deaths. Divine Life The present condition of the world is the aftermath of the recent developments, which may be looked upon as the speeding up of the process of the breaking-up of the past, indispensable to the manifestation of the new world. The progressive human mind seems to have become flexible and volatile to the extent that could not have been imagined even a few years ago. All established religions, socioeconomic systems, political dogmas seem to be losing their hold over it. Today, the old remedies are of no avail. A mere change in the form of government or in the social or economic system is not going to help man in any way. 94  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

This evolutionary world seems to be so planned as to have a built-in incentive for rising into ever higher and higher levels of consciousness. The root cause of all the problems is the inner constraints on vision and values. We contemplate changing almost anything on this earth but ourselves. We can rise above these problems, difficulties, or limitations only by ascending to a higher level of consciousness. Prophets of humanity have followed one another; religions, spiritual or social, have been created; their beginnings have sometimes been promising, but as humanity has not been fundamentally transformed, the old errors arising from human nature itself have gradually reappeared and after sometime we find ourselves almost back at the point we had started from with so much hope and enthusiasm. In this effort to improve human conditions, there have always been two tendencies, which seem to be contrary but which ought to complement each other so that progress may be achieved. The first advocates a collective reorganisation, something which could lead to the effective unity of mankind. The other declares that all progress is made first by the individual, and insists that the individual should be given the conditions in which he can progress freely. But man has now attained a position of full responsibility and can consciously collaborate with nature. The individuals who will most help the future of humanity in the New Age will be those who recognise a spiritual evolution as the destiny and therefore the great need of the human being.

Divinity In this material world, a divine life is possible only by the union of the two ends of existence—the spiritual summit and the material base. With the basis of its life established in matter, the The Ultimate Harmony  95 soul ascends to the heights of the spirit but does not cast away its base. It joins the heights and the depths together. The Spirit descends into matter and the material world with all its lights, glories and powers and with them fills and transforms life in the material world so that it becomes more and more divine. The divine life will reject nothing that is capable of divinisation; all is to be seized, exalted, made utterly perfect. The mind has to rise towards and into the supramental light and truth, and bring it down so that it shall suffuse our thinking and perception and insight and all our means of knowing till they become radiant with the highest truth in their innermost and outermost movements. The material life, which is occupied with obscurities, confusions, dull and lower aims, must feel all its urges and instincts exalted and irradiated and become a glorious counterpart of the supramental super-life above. The body itself must reach a perfection in all that it is and does which now we can hardly conceive. It may even in the end be suffused with a light and beauty and bliss from the beyond and the life divine assumes a body divine. The greater awakening of consciousness and its climb to a higher level and a wider extent of its vision and action is the condition of our progress towards that supreme and total perfection which is the aim of our existence. As we rise we have to open to them our lower members and fill these with those supreme dynamisms of light and power; we have to make the body into an entirely conscious frame and instrument, a conscious sign and seal and power of the spirit. As it grows in this perfection, the force and extent of its dynamic action and its response and service to the spirit must increase, the control of the spirit over it also must grow and the plasticity of its functioning both in its developed and acquired parts of power 96  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence and in its automatic responses down to those that are now purely organic and seem to be the movements of a mechanic incon- science. This cannot happen without a veritable transformation of the mind and life and the very body. It is indeed the change to which our evolution is secretly moving. Without this transformation, the entire fullness of a divine life on earth cannot emerge. In this transformation, the body itself can become an agent and a partner. A fully conscious body might even discover and work out the right material method and process of a material transformation. For this, no doubt, the spirit’s supreme light and power and creative joy must have manifested on the summit of the individual consciousness and sent down their fiat into the body, but still the body may take in the working of its spontaneous part of self-discovery and achievement. It would be, thus, a participator and agent in its own transformation and the integral transformation of the whole being; this too would be a part and a sign and evidence of the total perfection of the body. Baba never emulated others in any way, nor asked others to have something done for Him. He saw the Lord in all movable and immovable things of this world, and says, humility is the best gift of God.

The Ultimate Destination Baba advised everyone to practise forbearance. This, he said, is the essence of manliness that overcomes sin, suffering and adversity; it also helps to drive away all fears and disasters. Forbearance or patience alone succeeds. It is a mine of virtue and the queen of virtuous thought. Sai alone is to us the Supreme Brahman; in him is our ultimate and highest goal. He is beyond the pair of opposites like joy and sorrow, love and anger, etc., and is always absorbed in The Ultimate Harmony  97 the Self; and is forever, the Ultimate Reality. He enjoys unlimited glory, and with the power of his glance can transform a pauper into a wealthy man. He is that Brahmajnana Incarnate, who, himself having experienced it, brings to people a perception of God in a vision, and causes action, himself remaining out of it. While the body is in the five elements, and is destructible, the spirit is free and indestructible, and is without a beginning and an end. It is this pure Life-force, or Brahman, that is called Sai. Himself being beyond the bodily organs, he yet controls the gross physical organs. There is no place which is without this Sai Power, pervading all the ten directions, the animate and the inanimate. After completing his mission with a form and name, he has now merged with the Unmanifest again. He dwells inside and outside forever, in you and me, in all. He is compassionate to the poor and the meek, and is the Protector of his simple, faithful followers. If one constantly meditates on Sai’s manifest form, with all its attributes, the manifest form will disappear, and the subtle, true Self will appear. Unless one enters through the manifest form, it is not possible to know the true Self, and it becomes difficult to know the formless Parabrahman completely. Once the mind is completely filled with Sai, whether in the waking or dreaming or sleeping state, it is the state of renouncing the worldly life. Baba always told his followers to have control over their senses, saying that he who had a longing for sensual pleasures could never hope to attain spiritual progress. By offering the sense objects at the guru’s feet, the mind gets liberated and the sense- desires weaken. Instead, there arises a love for the guru, and from here sprouts pure knowledge. As this pure knowledge grows, the bondage of bodily awareness gets severed, the same intellect now 98  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence dives deep into the consciousness that “I am Brahman”. It is then that one experiences bliss. Though the body is transient, it is the only way of achieving the highest goal of human existence, leading to . A human being exists with his ego of scant knowledge, while the all-knowing Sai is egoless. To realise the oneness between the two, the guru is the only means. The ways of the guru are contrary to those of the world. This knowledge is gained through experience. Here, faith alone is one’s sustenance, and the guru’s grace is the only means. A devotee, by virtue of his own loving devotion will never boast of his knowledge, but offer his mind, body and wealth at his guru’s feet. The profound nature of the Self, which the body, sense- organs, mind or the intellect cannot comprehend, is revealed to us by the grace of the guru. And to attain moksha, the highest goal, one needs the guru’s grace. Our hearts must be purified if we have to cross the ocean of worldly life. The source of this purification lies in devotion to God. There is no better devotion than listening to the stories of the guru which inspires love for him quite easily and effortlessly. The mind becomes cleansed and purified. And from there spirituality is born. When you keep repeating Sai’s name, sins are destroyed; rajas and tamas disappear, while sattva remains and grows, leading to moral and religious merit. This awakens God-devotion and moral consciousness, the sensual desires are totally destroyed, and Self-realisation happens instantly. When knowledge is gained through a discriminating intelligence, the whole concentration is on Self-absorption, which in itself means remaining humbly at the guru’s feet. This is known as complete surrender to the guru. The Ultimate Harmony  99

Though the guru might appear to be stern, he is full of love for his devotee. One should, therefore, have patience and courage in one’s heart, and he will work for your weal in the end. When one is in the guru’s company, misfortunes, attachment and self- interests disappear. One should, therefore, surrender to one’s guru without conceit, but with humility and a prayer. If one follows a true guru, one will be liberated, such being the inconceivable power of the guru!

 10. Infinity

Sai Baba would always say, “I shall remain active and vigorous even after leaving this earthly body.... My shrine will bless my devotees and fulfil their needs.... I am ever living to help those who come to me and surrender, and seek refuge in me.” Though he left his mortal coils, he is even today ‘alive’ with his continued presence. You have only to remember him and chant his name, and he is there for you, but be sure to have a pure heart. There was a rehearsal of Baba’s death as early as in 1886. He instructed Mahlsapati thus, “I am going to Allah (showing the formlessness). Take care of this body for three days. If I return, I will look after it myself. If not, bury it in that open land and put up two posts to mark the place.” Baba’s breathing and circulation stopped. The civil authorities held an inquest, and pronouncing him dead, ordered Mahlsapati to bury or cremate the body. This instruction was in accordance with the law that a dead body was not to be kept longer than twenty four hours in those days. Mahlsapati, of course, refused to comply with the orders, and safeguarded Baba’s body as if it belonged to his own self. On the third day, Mahlsapati’s joy knew no bounds when the body resumed breathing, and Sai Baba opened his eyes! His fame, no doubt, spread like wildfire after this incident. Blessed Infinity  101 are the people who enjoyed the rare happiness of Baba’s company for more than half a century! From 1910, Baba’s health gradually began to weaken as he had been taking upon himself the burden of his devotees. On day in 1916, Baba had an attack of frenzy. He tore off his clothes, and standing stark naked for nearly two hours, cried out, “Now decide, decide for yourselves whether I am a Muslim or a Hindu!” He cried out that it was his day of ‘crossing the frontiers’. It was on the same day two years later, on October 15, 1918, that he attained samadhi. Before attaining his samadhi, he gave instructions to various people, but none seemed to have grasped the point of these dispositions. He gave some money from the pocket of his kafni to Laxmibai Shinde who had served him faithfully in the mosque, and lovingly brought him eatables every day at the appointed time without fail. Though she was well-off, yet to her these nine rupees were unique, a treasured gift, for, to her, this was a reminder of Sai to the end of her life. When Buty had built the wada, he wanted to instal an idol of Krishna there. Baba told him, “Break the coconut. We, all the children, will pass our time here. All the children will find peace of mind.” When Baba breathed his last, it was here that his body was buried, and it was then that the significance of Baba’s words struck them. The installation of Krishna’s idol had remained unfulfilled till then, but Baba’s samadhi there proved that it was Sai Baba, who was to occupy that place. He sent word to a Muslim saint, saying, “The light that Allah lit is fading away,” and the saint shed tears of sorrow. He distributed two hundred rupees for feeding fakirs, and they sat there reading from the . 102  Sai: The Solespirit of Existence

When his end neared, Baba sent all those who sat around him to eat their lunch. He told Bayaji Kote, “I am going. Carry me to the wada”, and told him not to reveal what he had said to him. Nana Nimonkar too was beside Baba when Baba breathed his last and lay with his head on Bayaji’s lap. Despite Baba’s explicit wish that he should be buried at Buty Wada, there was disagreement about his burial between the Muslims and the Hindus, which was finally amicably settled as per Baba’s wishes. It was also agreed that the wada and the mosque should be kept open for people of all religions. By casting off the physical body, Baba attained that eternal state which is ‘Infinity’. He was manifest in his physical body, but by casting it off, he became Unmanifest, merging with his real Self, the ‘Infinity’. When the body and its organs come together, there is birth, and with their separation comes death. To become entangled in the worldly life denotes birth, and being free of it is death. Every birth is followed by death, and every being, on dying, leaves his mortal coils, for death is the natural state of the body. It is life that is the unnatural and pleasurable state of the body. Whosoever visits Shirdi and Baba’s mosque with hope in his heart never returns in despair. Baba used to say, “I am always in the eyes of him who is most fond of me. To him, the whole creation is empty without me, and in his mouth there are tales of me and me alone. He meditates on me ceaselessly, and sings only my praises. And when he becomes one with me, he forgets both action and inaction. Where there is such eagerness and reverence to serve me, only there I wait, all the time.” Baba lives on, and only the devoted and faithful can bear testimony to this truth. Infinity  103

Sai Age Even after Sai Baba’s attainment of samadhi, his divine power is ever awake, protecting the loved and needy ones who devoutly remember him. He can never die—he has merely left his body— and the entire world is one with his divine power. His divine power manifests itself in the form of miracles even today; and this is corroborated by several incidents, and by numerous devotees. Such is his love for his devotees that mere words will be inadequate to do justice to his magnanimity and divinity, and our intellect is beyond envisaging its magnitude. He resides in the heart of all as Love. There are some who always seek His miracles, like unexpected favourable happenings, unusual connections of events in mundane life or even in dreams. There are only a few who find Baba in all their actions, i.e., karma. The luckiest are the ones who identify their own actions as the outcome of inner motivations generated by Baba. The best devotees are those who, in every motivation and action, find His Divine play. People from all corners of the world, and from all walks of life, throng to Shirdi, to pay homage to this Universal Guru God, and to seek his blessings. No doubt Sai power will continue to enthral mankind and help in the integration of a universal family.

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