- A human body is better than other bodies–
- Despite its filth, mucus, and susceptibility to decay, disease, and death, the human body’s special value lies in its capacity to acquire knowledge and attain God-vision, which is impossible in any other birth.
- Love is better than intelligence-
- The pure love of Shirdi women, despite their ignorance, inspired them to compose poems, implying that love is more inspiring than intelligence.
- Giving food is better than other charities-
- While other charities like giving away wealth, property, and clothes require some discrimination, offering food requires no such consideration.
- Also, the merit of feeding lame, crippled, blind, and diseased paupers is much greater than that of feeding able-bodied persons and relations.
- Butter-milk (Leelas) is better than Milk (Darshan)-
- If one desires to see Sai Baba’s but they did not get any opportunity of taking His darshan, their quest for milk (darshan) will be, to a great extent, satisfied by the butter-milk (Leelas).
- Remembering and chanting Hari’s and Guru’s name confers salvation is better than getting the powerful Bhakti of the Nathas-
- one Madhavarao did not like Kakasaheb’s pessimistic attitude of how to get the powerful Bhakti of the Nathas, as he said, ‘has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering and chanting Hari’s and Guru’s name confers salvation? Then where is the cause for fear and anxiety?’
- The observance of the vow of silence is the best way of praising the Sad-guru-
- In reality, the observance of the vow of silence is the best way of praising the Sad-guru.
- Having recourse to Sai Baba’s Feet and surrendering to Him is the best luck-
- The best luck is to get an opportunity to have recourse to Sai Baba’s Feet and surrender to Him, than any other
Tag: Learn
learning from experience
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Where certain actions or entities are considered better than others
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Mastering Dispassion: A Guide to Spiritual Liberation with Baba
Baba’s physical or finite form has undoubtedly vanished from our sight; however, the infinite or spiritual essence (Spirit of Baba) endures eternally.
Baba’s plays continue:
- The divine Leelas (play) that transpired during His earthly existence have been extensively discussed till now.
- Since His departure, new Leelas (play) have emerged and continue to unfold even now.
- This clearly illustrates that Baba remains ever-living and extends His assistance to His devotees as before.
About Those contacted physically Baba:
- Those who were blessed to have contact with Baba during His lifetime were indeed fortunate;
- nevertheless, if any of them failed to cultivate dispassion for worldly possessions and pleasures, or did not turn their minds toward the Lord,
- it is purely a matter of their misfortune.
Now what is necessary:
- What was necessary then, as it is Now, is a wholehearted devotion to Baba.
- All our
- senses,
- organs-faculties, and
- minds should collaborate in worshiping and serving Baba:
- to engage only certain faculties in worship, while neglecting others is of no use.
- Should one partake in worship or meditation, it ought to be undertaken with one’s full mind and soul.
- All our
Can anyone assist us in achieving?
- The love that a devoted wife holds for her husband is frequently, likened to the devotion a disciple offers to his master (Guru).
- Yet, the latter is unparalleled and far surpasses the former.
- No individual, be it a father, mother, brother, or any other relative, can assist us in achieving the ultimate purpose of life (self-realization).
- We must delineate and navigate the path of self-realization independently.
- We are tasked with
- discerning the Unreal from the Real,
- renouncing the desires and pleasures of this world and
- the next, mastering our senses and minds, and
- aspiring solely for liberation.
- Rather than depending on others, we ought to place total faith in ourselves.
Practice What? and How?
- As we begin to practice discernment,
- we come to realize the transitory and illusory nature of the world, and
- our passions for worldly matters gradually diminish,
- ultimately leading to dispassion or non-attachment.
- We then acknowledge that the Brahma,
- which is none other than our Guru, is the sole reality;
- as it transcends and pervades the apparent universe,
- we begin to worship it in all beings.
- By wholeheartedly worshiping the Brahma or Guru, we become one with Him and attain self-realization.
- In summary:
- consistently chanting the name of the Guru and
- meditating on Him, enables us to
- perceive Him in all beings.
- It bestows upon us eternal bliss.
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Baba is a Scientist in Teaching Education
Pedagogics is the art and science of teaching and education. It involves not only conveying information, but also understanding how people learn. It requires creating environments, that foster growth and development.
Sai Baba is also not only delivering information, but create environment for learning and growing of His devotees. viz:
- One,
- totally devoid of any book study, but
- possessed of
- perfect self-surrender,
- humility,
- trust, and
- love towards the Guru Baba,
- was and is the person who could derive
- the fullest benefits from Baba.
- The idea that
- one has understood all about Jiva and Paramatma and
- the methods by which Paramatma could be reached by a Jiva,
- forms the greatest obstacle to one’s progress.
- It is
- not the intellect, the keenness of intellect, that is
- wanted from a person approaching Baba.
- It is
- humility,
- receptivity, and
- a readiness to receive all that Baba gives, that counts.
- As Baba pointed out to the Valambi Station Master,
- persons (evidently with much conceit of learning etc.) came to him
- like vessels the mouth of which was kept inverted; and were therefore
- incapable of receiving any benefits from him.
- In the case of Nana (Devotee),
- his very high learning and
- great ability in official and other matters were naturally accompanied
- by a high degree to self-assertion and egotism;
- which make for success in
- literary study,
- official matters, and to a certain extent even in
- spiritual matters.
- But for the highest results in spiritual matters, it is just the opposite, namely,
- utter reduction of egotism,
- the power to relax the Ego and
- keep it relaxed for long periods, that is essential.
- This is why
- the consumption of water, that was used to washing of the feet of the Guru, and
- the acceptance of his Uchchishta tirtha (the remnants of food that have been contaminated by the Guru’s saliva) are emphasized in the
- “Guru Gita” for a pupil’s advancement,
- as these practices foster a profound annihilation of Ahamkara, or Ego,
- through deep reverence for the Guru, culminating in Love.
- In Baba’s system,
- the Guru-Teacher imparts virtue after virtue to the sishya-Student.
- HE trains him step by step to secure these virtues and the knowledge, he wishes to equip the pupil with.
- This process is just as the cat carries its kittens to safe and good places.
- The first essential preparatory step in Baba’s course is thus,
- not book learning, but the
- development of
- humility and
- receptivity.
- These would result from
- perfect faith, absolute faith,
- unlimited and powerful faith in the Guru.
- The Guru must be everything to the sishya,
- the giver of bread,
- the giver of life and light and
- the giver of all that life is worth living for, and
- at one stroke.
- He must not regard anything else. This alone is the tyaga of Tan, Man, Dhan – body, mind and possessions.
LoSB-Vol II’ Ch 2
- Baba’s company was the highest education one could get. As a Mahratta saying goes, ‘Let us stay with saints. If they do not give us Upadesa, let us note what they do and say. That is the best Upadesa‘.
- One,
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Summary of Soul Science
- The heart, full of purity and poise (Satwa) is the Ocean of milk.
- Steady contemplation of the Divine, either as i) your own reality or ii) as ideal to be reached, is Mandara mountain,
- placed in it as a churning rod Vasuki, the serpent wound round the churning rod as a rope,
- is the group of senses,
- emitting poisonous fumes
- during the process of churning and
- nearly frightening the asuras (demons) who held the head.
- The rope is
- held by good and bad impulses and
- both struggle with the churning process,
- eager for the results, which each has set the heart on!
- Grace of God is the
- Tortoise incarnation,
- for the Lord Himself comes to the rescue
- once
- HE knows that you are earnestly seeking the secret of Immortality!
- He comes,
- silently and
- unobserved,
- as the tortoise did,
- holding the reflection (manana) process
- unimpaired and
- serving as the steady base of all spiritual practices!
- Many things emerge from the mind, when churned,
- but the wise wait patiently
- for the appearance of the guarantor of immortality, and
- seize upon it with avidity!
- That is the lesson of the legend. It is a summary of Atma-vidya!
– Puttaparti Satya Sai Baba in the Divine Discourse on Jan 13, 1965
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You are God, you are mighty and opulent
Shishya (disciple) like the Sad-guru is really embodiment of Jnana.
The difference between the two lies in the attitude, high realization, marvellous super-human Sattva (beingness) and unrivalled capacity and Aishwarya Yoga (divine powers).
The Sad-guru is Nirguna, Sat-Chit-Ananda. He has indeed taken human form to elevate mankind and raise the world. But his real Nirguna nature is not destroyed thereby, even a bit. His beingness (or reality), divine power and widsom remain undiminished.
The disciple also is in fact of the same swarupa. But, it is overlaid by the effect of the samaskaras of innumerable births in the shape of ignorance, which hides from his view that he is Shuddha Chaitanya (see B.G. Ch. V-15). As stated therein, he gets the impressions – “Iam Jiva, a creature, humble and poor.”
The Guru has to root out these offshoots of ignorance and has to give upadesh or instruction.
To the disciple, held spell- bound 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 realizes a bit that he is God really.
The perpetual delusion under which the disciple is labouring, 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 from innumerable past births. From actions based on it, he has derived his joy, sorrows and mixtures 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 to show him this, is called the Guru’s upadesh.
SSSC-Ch 29
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Last thought, man has at death-hour, determines his future
The last wish or thought that a man has at the hour of death, determines his future course.
Shri Krishna has said in Gita (VIII-5-6) that “he who remembers Me in his last moments, comes verily to Me, and he who meditates otherwise at that time, goes to what he looks for.”
We cannot be certain that we can entertain a particular good thought at our last moment, for, more often than not, we are more likely to be frightened and terrif ied by death.
Hence constant practice is necessary, for enabling us to fix our mind on any desired good thought at any moment.
All Saints, therefore, recommend us to always remember God and chant His name always, so that we may not be puzzled when the time for departure comes.
The devotees on their part surrender themselves completely to the Saints, fully believing that the all-knowing Saints (Sai Baba) would guide and help them in their last moments.
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Classification of disciples
- There are of three kinds of disciples of a Guru:
- (1) First or Best
- (2) Second or Average and
- (3) Third or Ordinary.
- The best kind of disciples are those who
- guess what their Gurus want and
- immediately carry it out and
- serve them
- without waiting for an order from them.
- The average disciples are those who
- carry out the orders of their Masters to a letter,
- without any delay, and
- the third kind of disciples are those, who
- go on postponing the carrying out of their orders and
- making mistakes at every step.
- The disciples should have
- firm faith,
- backed up by intelligence
- and if they add patience to these,
- their spiritual goal will not be distant.
- Control of
- breath (ingoing and outgoing), or
- Hath-Yoga (Balancing Sun and Moon force of Human Body) or
- other difficult practices
- are not at all necessary.
- When
- the disciples get the above mentioned qualities,
- they become ready for further instructions and
- Masters then appear and
- lead them on, in their spiritual path to perfection.
- There are of three kinds of disciples of a Guru:
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Various teachings and practices, prescribed by Baba
- Baba lovingly urged many to remember His name and to surrender to Him,
- Yet for those seeking to understand ‘who they truly were’ (the ‘Who am I’ enquiry), He gently recommended Shravanam (study) and Mananam (meditation).
- To some, He lovingly guided
- the remembrance of God’s name,
- to others, the joy of hearing HIS Leelas /Plays,
- to some, the sacred worship of His Feet,
- and to others, the reading and studying of the Adhyatma Ramayan, Jnaneshwari, and more sacred scriptures.
- Some He tenderly invited to sit near His Feet,
- while others He lovingly sent to Khandoba’s temple,
- He advised some
- to repetition the thousands of names of Vishnu,
- and others to engage in the study of the Chhandogya Upanishad and Geeta.
- To some, He offered His guidance directly in person, and to others, through the precious visions in their dreams.
- He lovingly explained certain Mantras, such as ‘Guru Brahma’, “Raja Ram’ in their dreams.
- To one devotee,
- who was earnestly practicing Hath-Yoga,
- HE conveyed a gentle message to leave those practices aside,
- to sit in quiet and embrace patience (Saburi).
- Truly, it is an immense task to describe all of His ways and methods, each filled with love and compassion.
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Wants to get rid of cycle of births and deaths?
- Baba, as a God incarnated in this divine form,
- “if any devotee
- meditates on Him
- day and night with
- complete self-surrender,
- they will joyfully experience
- profound union (without any difference) with Him,
- like the delight of sweetness and sugar, the harmony of waves and sea, the togetherness of eye and its sight.
- He, who aspires to transcend the cycle of births and deaths,
- should embrace a righteous life,
- with a calm and composed mind.
- Engaging in good actions is essential,
- diligently fulfilling his duties and
- surrendering himself, heart and soul, to Baba.
- With this dedication, he need not fear anything at all.
- Those who place their trust in Him completely, hear and share His Leelas/play, and focus solely on Him, are surely destined to attain the bliss of Self-realization.
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Who, When, How and Why Shri Sai SatCharitra (SSSC) created?
- When seeking facts about Sai Baba,
- the remarkable work that stands out is ‘Sai Satcharitra’ by HemadPant, known as Anna Saheb Dabolkar.
- It is written in the Marathi language.
- This wonderfully crafted poetical masterpiece spans 53 vibrant chapters and over 1000 pages, narrating incidents from Sai Baba’s inspiring life.
- Written in rich and expressive Marathi, it beautifully fulfills the purpose of Puranic study, serves daily parayana.
- It offers readers a path to deeper understanding and devotion.(LoSB p6)
- Baba conveyed his heartfelt blessing to Hemadpant in 1916, when asked permission to write Baba’s life teachings and expressions,
- by providing him with udhi and placing his Asirvada hand upon Dabolkar’s head, proclaiming,
- “Let him compile a collection of My stories and experiences,
- diligently maintaining notes and memos.
- I shall assist him in this endeavor.
- He is merely an external instrument. It is I who should document my life and fulfill the aspirations of my devotees.
- When his ego is entirely extinguished, leaving no remnants, I shall personally enter within him to narrate my life.
- Listening to my stories and teachings will instill faith in the hearts of devotees, facilitating their journey toward self-realization and eternal bliss.“
- Hemadpant diligently gathered information concerning the lilas of Baba and, as a proficient writer possessing a profound command of Marathi verse and prose, along with a solid foundation in religious literature,
- aspired to compose a comprehensive study of Baba’s lilas, thereby creating a significant chronicle of Baba’s life.
- This endeavor would align with the framework established by Saraswati Gangadhar’s Guru Charitra, offering solace and happiness to individuals burdened with sorrow and the afflictions stemming from worldly existence.
- Additionally, it would provide them with Jnana, or knowledge and wisdom, regarding both temporal and spiritual matters.
- Baba’s lilas would serve as both instructive and engaging, akin to the Vedas,
- and, upon contemplation, they would facilitate laya, or union with Brahman, as well as mastery of Yoga and Yoga Ananda.
- Consequently, he resolved to compile these narratives, considering the publication as a form of upasana, or worship, of his Guru.
- This collection would be particularly invaluable to those unable to experience Baba in person, allowing them to form an understanding of Baba through this compilation.
- Baba’s teachings and expressions were the natural outcome of his boundless self-realization; it was Dabolkar’s belief that Baba himself inspired this initiative to gather and present his life’s essence.(P376. )
Shri N.V.Gunaji adapted the above Shri Hemanpant’s “Sri Sai SatCharita” and translated into English and donated the entire proceeds to the Sai Sansthan Trust, Shirdi.
- When seeking facts about Sai Baba,
"I draw to Me, My man from far off or even across the seven Seas to Shirdi, like a sparrow with a string fastened to its feet"-Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian Spiritual Guru-God 