CLUES TO SAI LIFE
(As published in Souvenir published by Sri Shiridi Sai Baba Samajam, Hyderabad in the year 1991)
It was sometime in October 1978 or so. One fine afternoon, I went to Sai Spiritual Centre at Bangalore to pay my respects to Sai Maharaj and Radhakrishna Swamiji. Swamiji was all alone chanting Vishnu Sahasra Namam in the main hall. I went and sat at his lotus feet- Suddenly he quoted what Sai Baba told Master Tarkhad : "During how many births have I been with you ; we shall meet again and again. I have to take care of my devotees night and day and give an account of every pie to God."
"A life that is dynamic and harmonious is in balance," Radhakrishna Swamiji added, "There is intake and outflow. Activity without strain."
"Activity without strain" I repeated, "I would like that. Tell me Swamiji, how it is done."
"It has to do with the art of giving yourself away. There is an art to it. you know."
I thought of the days when I had done things I need not have done, and others where I neglected those I ought to have done There was far too much strain in my activity, too little balance, too little joy in the doing "
"What is this art of giving yourself away" I questioned Swamiji.
"My Guru Narasimha Swamiji has mastered it on studying Sai Baba's life- If you contemplate on Narasimha Swamiji s life and mission, you would certainly learn this."
Radhakrishna Swamiji's regards for his guru, Narasimha Swamiji's is beyond expression. He told me as to how, between 1940 and 1950, His Holiness Narasimha Swamiji covered nearly all the principal towns and cities now distributed in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Swamiji was reminiscent of Narasimha Swamiji's lectures on Sai Baba in 1943 at Bombay and Bhusval He carried the message of Sai Baba to Delhi, Allahabad, Calcutta. He went to Kharagpur and in Assam he covered Manipur, Karimganj and Silchar- In Bihar, he covered Patna and Jamshed-pur. In short, Narasimha Swamiji had carried Sai Baba all over India.
"How did Narasimha Swamiji gave himself away"?
Radhakrishna Sawamiji looked thoughtful. "I don't think any of us has the complete answer. But one thing that helps me is the 'Funnel Idea'."
I must have looked puzzled for he laughed and then went on to explain what he called 'Narasimha Swamiji's funnel appoach to life.
" A missionary" Swamiji said "wants to make the right move or intonation at exactly the right time; to do that I believe he must leave his life open, like a funnel, not become so wholly Involved with himself that he is unaware of the things and people around him."
H H. Narasimha Swamiji is Sai Baba's greatest missionary. It is amazing to learn how alone or sometimes accompanied by another worker, Narasimha Swamiji travelled from one end of the country to another, lecturing, organising, founding new Sai Samajams, inaugurating Sai-worship in individual houses, steadying wandering minds to concentrate on Sai Baba, to chant the mantram 'Sal Ram' and integrating several into one large and common brothenrhood bound by their single-hearted devotion and loyalty to Sai Baba. He travelled by third class in railways, by bullock carts, jutkas, motor cars, accepting any place to rest, livinig on plain fare or choice dishes, whatever came to him He carried udhi, Sai's pictures in card size and 'Sai-Ashotharam' for free distribution. He never worried whether his audiences were large or small. He addressed students, men and women pursuing various avocations, teachers, traders, artists, artisans and craftsmen. He spoke in houses, clubs, schools, in parks and public places, His clear and ringing voice reached them all bringing a massage of hope and good cheer and opening a new chapter, a bright page in their lives.
Narasimha Swamiji drew ail this experience into the big end of the funnel, letting it become a part of his total awareness, an engaging of Me,- reservoir that is SAI.
When it is time for a particular action, out of this funnelled-in experience will come the right move or tie right intonation. "But" concluded Radhakrisha Swamiji, "a devotee cannot give until first he receives. And what he gives is not his own."
I nodded. "This make good sense- for Saints like Narasimha Swamiji. My problem is that I need it every day of my life-"
"Alright," Radhakrisha Swamiji said, "you can apply the funnel illustration to any person's way of living. It simply requires that you accept life as it is and do not become so involved with self that you fail to recognise other people and their needs. When you let the passing scene come into your life, you are immediately in communication with your fellow men and with the world."
This statement helped explain a number of Narasimha Swamiji's quiet acts; more than once he was stricken by accidents, there was division among his followers. Accidents failed to deter him and he put heterogansous elements together and evolved as his Master Lord Sainath had done in Shirdi - 'harmony out of chaos.'
"There is one thing I still do not follow," I said "Through our open funnel approach we recognise the needs of others. But what else do you believe comes in that helps, strengthens or guides us" ?
Radhakrishna Swamiji did not hesitate an instant, "When I speak of leaving yourself open to communication, I am referring not only to an awareness of others but to communication with Sai Baba, By having 'Vishnu Sahasra Namam' on my lips, there is not an hour of the day or night that I am not in a sots of communication or prayer. To me acceptance is an important part of prayer. How ever Thy will be done' is not a passive statement it It is an offer of co-operation in whatever Sai Baba can do through us. Our part is the right hand of action, beginning with our horns life and our work, because until these are in order, we ara not ready to function beyond our own front yard."
"And when they are in order," I said: "You would suggest we consider the whole world an area of need" ?
"Exactly" said Radhakrisna Swamiji, "I believe we are in trouble today because we have not been concerned enough about each other."
"All of us, of course, complain how little time we have."
That is avoiding responsibility," said Radhakrishna Swamiji, "To be sure, there are relentless demands on all of us. I have discovered that there is almost always a way to do the things that confront us if we have the will to do them."
I replied "Some persons use the excuse 'What can I just one person do in such a big world ?..as if any contribution large or small was insignificant.,
In a reflective mood so familiar to thousands of Radhakrishna Swamiji's devotees, he paused, then learned forward in his chair and continued : "Let us pretend for a moment that the universe is an ocean and Sai Baba is a huge bright stone. We drop the stone into the middle of this ocean. As long as the world lasts there will be a ripple. Now, let us consider then man, made in the image of Sai Baba, is a pebble. No matter how small the pebble, if we drop it in this same ocean, there will be a ripple. In the same sense, then, man's life will have an effect on the universe."
"It is an awesome thought to consider that what we are doing this minute, one way or another, is going to have some effect on the world."
Radhakrishna Swamij's philoshphy has helped me find a new sense of perspective about my own place in the world-Giving is not something you do just when it is convenient. It is, in itself, the key to good Sai-life.
Dr. G.R. VIJAYAKUMAR
Hosur – Tamil Nadu