PRAYER
{At Dwaraka}
May the wicked turn good;
May the good attain peace;
May the peaceful be freed from all bondage, and
May the liberated redeem others.
May everybody be happy.
May everybody be free from disease;
May everybody have good luck;
May none fall on evil days.
May everybody surmount difficulties?
May everybody have good fortune?
May everybody realize his ambitions?
May everybody rejoice every where.
- Sri Saipadananda Radhaknshna Swamiji
SAIPADANANDA
A Thought
You know how wonderful Love is! Before it everything is "flat and unprofitable." For the sake of that Love lives have been crucified cheerfully. To live and die for that Love is the supreme purpose of human life. Everything passes away except Love.
- Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji
CONTENS
1. The Vanity of Self-Importance
2. Serious Sadhana for Sai Devotees
3. What is Baba’s Mission
4. Rama’s place in Sahasranama
5. Power of Guru
6. Personal Remembrances
7. The Three-in-One Sai Baba
8. Gospel Of Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji
9. The Meaning of Life
10. To the Other Shore
Editorial
The Vanity of Self-Importance
Every person has his own self-image. This personal idea we have of ourselves is gradually built up in us by all our past memories, achievements, failures and the opinions of others in our society. When we think of others, the images and the impressions we carry about them flash in our minds. If someone has humiliated or badly treated us in the past, according to our psychological tendency, our impulse will be to react in a hostile manner. On the other hand, if another has shown us love and consideration, when his image comes to mind we experience good feelings. Therefore, our thinking centers round the images of persons or objects we perceive, so we live mostly in imaginary worlds, and now and then wake up to face a different reality.
How is this concept of oneself, the self-image formed? We perceive this from family, country and the society we belong to. Our modern acquisitive society gives importance to status, power and money. 'I am important because off what I have' - has been- the guiding principle of modern man. I have nothing then I am nobody. So everyone's anxious concern, it appears, is to show that he is somebody to be recognized and given due importance. Our education and social values have taught us to possess more and more, whether it is knowledge, property or power. There is nothing wrong, we think with a rapacious attitude.
We bestow value on position, wealth and power. In turn they give us nothing except illusory importance. We forget what we are, but think only of what we have. We see everyday Ministers, politicians and others coming on the stage for a few days and disappearing without a trace. Only men of shining character, of love and compassion remain in the minds of the human race. Men like Sai Baba, Sri Narasimha Swamiji, and Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji who did not posses anything in this world left a deep mark on human history. They found blessedness in being themselves. That "being" is limitless. We remember Sri Narasimha Swamiji for giving us ‘Sai Baba’ and his untiring efforts outshine everything else. From the life of Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji we know that it is not having or grabbing, but sharing-and giving that gives meaning and depth to life. Ironically we always strive to decorate and keep on the high pedestal that petty and oppressive self or ego. With a little power and money we think we are above everybody and everyone should honor us. One who thinks he is a very important person is a vain person.
Once Swamiji remarked: "it is good that you are an important person; but it is more important to be a good person." How difficult it is to expect in our society gentleness, humility and sweet behavior from people! There is ruthless competition to install oneself above others. A good and noble person by his virtues and humane qualities, whatever may be his status in society, wins the heart of others and commands respect.
Most of us feel what we own is precious, what we do is very important and above all that we are indispensable to the world. Each one of us has an idea that the world rests on ‘my shoulders’; ‘my presence is essential and my death will cause untold misery to the world.’ How small is our mental world! In that tiny world how great is my presence and self-importance! We know the world; does the world know us?
On the contrary, we all think the world cannot go on without us. In that small world we possess a few external things and assign ourselves a big role and consider everything hinges around it. It is staggering to think that millions and millions of human beings come and depart everyday quietly without our knowing. We are tiny bubbles in this vast ocean. Yet, to man his mental phantasy appears real. One blow is enough to shatter his phantasies and remind him of how evanescent is one's existence on this earth.
We know from the life of Sri Narasimha Swamiji that the death of two of his children from an accident made him renunciate and go in quest of truth. For sixteen years, Sri Narasimha Swamiji's life itinerant life is full of questions and doubts – ‘is he merely a bundle of senses, a body, or within the depths of his being, is there something infinite?’ At last on the 29th August 1936, as he stands before the Samadhi-shrine of Sai Baba at Shirdi, Sai Baba the Almighty engulfs Sri Narasimha Swamiji and discloses the secret. Greatness lies in human beings and not in power, money and position. That greatness is inward growth, the blossoming of divine personality. Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji asked us to recite Vishnu Sahasra Namam and grow inward. Sai Baba Himself guides us to control and make proper use of our wealth for the welfare of others. Otherwise we become miserable slaves to material things. Swamiji rightly observes: "Acceptance of the fact that nobody and nothing outside oneself gives meaning to life, but by reciting ‘Vishnu Sahasra Namam’ one gets radical independence and nothingness can become the condition for the fullest activity devoted to caring and sharing."
Self-confidence - faith in oneself, and self-importance, are entirely different. Faith in oneself does not depend on external authority or things. That faith lies in one's faith in the fact that behind me is the ocean of infinite power and blessedness from Sai Baba, Sri Narasimha Swamiji and Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji.
Love for oneself means love and respect for all beings as manifestations of Sai Baba. It is the doctrine of oneness preached and practiced by Sai Baba. Forgetting this oneness, we have created divisions - the privileged and the unprivileged, the superior and the inferior. Self-importance, the outcome of ignorance is a selfish feeling that I am someone special. Sai Baba does not make any differentiation among His devotees. In reality we are all one in this great Sai-family. The same purity and divinity works in all of us. The difference is only in manifestation. In the Sai order all are important.
Serious Sadhana for Sai Devotees
By H. H. Narasimha Swamiji
"Do not be idle. Work. Utter God's name. Read Scriptures."
"Life is lived in vain, if no Yoga, Yaga, Tapas and Jnana be achieved."
"Will you sit idle (merely) eating your food? Have Saburi (patience and courage)."
"Our end will get so bitter or wretched. Once or twice I will warn. The end will be hard indeed if one does not heed the advice given. Even the child in the womb we will cut to pieces and throw away if it falls athwart."
- SAI BABA
A religious journal or any other literature devoted to religion generally presupposes that the readers are serious minded. In some cases no doubt there may not be sufficient seriousness at the beginning. But seriousness is developed as days pass on and the literature is therefore rendered more useful and effective. As those without such seriousness form the majority of the reading public and several of them wish to become and might well be expected to become serious minded, we might briefly advert to the process by which people are involuntarily or voluntarily made serious.
As stated in the Gita Ch. VII, 16, four classes of persons develop seriousness enough to run up to God that is to become really religious. The first class is the arta, i.e., the sufferers. When one has a serious loss of health, wealth, progeny, kinsmen, necessaries, comforts, etc. life suddenly presents a doleful appearance and the sufferer not knowing any other way to obtain relief runs to the Almighty for relief. This is humorously referred to in the Canarese aphorism Sankata Bandare Venkataramana which means when a man is in trouble he turns to God. Another category of seekers after God or religion is jijnasu that is one with a metaphysical turn of mind anxious to know the why of all things. God being the ultimate cause of every thing naturally attracts such a person. The third category consists of arta aartis that is those who are very ambitious —wanting to get lots of wealth and other desired objects, etc. and who do not find it easy to achieve their ambition except by divine aid. The last category is the Jnani - the person with fullest realization of divinity in the self—which is of course very rare (one perhaps in a million may have such realization). Hence what makes a man serious minded and religious is either, (1) present or impending trouble, or (2) an excessive craving for the world's good or (3) a highly metaphysical and introverted turn of mind. It is not our desire that any body should be subjected to serious trouble or should entertain inordinate hankering for the world's goods. As far a metaphysical and introverted turn of mind, that comes to very few indeed naturally and cannot be easily cultivated. Yet we might give some answer to the question of a devotee with budding earnestness how to develop such earnestness and seriousness.
• The great panacea for all defects, shortcomings and ills is Satsang, that is, association with holy ones, pure minded persons — of course in the flesh, if available, or in easily approachable spirit form as in the case of Sai Baba or failing these, through reading of holy and inspiring literature, such as scriptures, saintly biography, etc. When a person is very anxious to get serious, he has already started the development of seriousness.
In any case a constant repetition of prayer — that is an attempt to form a habit of prayer - whether for temporal or spiritual benefits is an excellent means for developing seriousness as a strong and permanent trait in one's character. More things are done in heaven and earth by prayer than the scientist will readily allow.
Everything grows by exercise. One desiring to develop love in himself towards God or any other being, must watch and observe how persons filled with love behaves and then must do likewise. So also a person desirous of becoming serious must in the beginning artificially put on seriousness, observe what serious minded people that command his approval and admiration do, and then he must go and do likewise. One of the things that may be confidentially recommended to any Sai Bhakta who wishes to attain more seriousness is to make a daily program himself to maintain a diary and to note therein, his programmes, resolves, Sadhanas attempted and the degree or number of successes or failures in respect of each Sadhana. Let him pick up and peruse the diary both at the starting and the close of the day to note the above facts. A daily repetition of some slokas from Sainath Manana or the Ashtottara Namavali or the reading of not less than five to ten pages of Sai literature such as "Charters & Sayings" may all be prescribed or recommended.
The oral or written japa of Sai Ram will form an excellent coping stone to all the above edifice of instruction.
It is to be hoped that some of those who read this article will take our advice seriously, begin the habit of seriousness from this very moment and make a resolve to adopt all or as many as possible of the measures above, recommended for their development.
Important Achievement
On Arturo Toscanini's eightieth birthday, someone asked his son, Walter, what his father ranked as his most important achievement.
The son replied, ‘For him there can be no such thing. Whatever he happens to be doing at the moment is the biggest in his life — whether it is conducting a symphony or peeling an orange.’
What Is Baba's Mission
By H. H. Sri Saipadananda Radhakrishna Swamiji
Mysticism denotes that attitude of mind which involves a direct Immediate, intuitive apprehension of God. It signifies the highest attitude of which man is capable, namely, a beatific contemplation of God 'and its dissemination in the society and the world.
- Gurudev Ranade
All roads lead to Rome. All paths margas lead to Sri Baba, Sri Krishna, and Sri Rama are all divinely gifted or perfected souls and expressions of divinity transforming every one who comes into contact with their divine personality - especially those who are drawn through Rinanubandha by their divinity and that are the purpose or mission of their lives. So, Baba has not one mission, but a hundred missions. Protecting the good (virtuous) punishing or reforming the wicked, establishing Dharma (virtue) or its hold on the people, are the functions of divine personalities and Baba was performing all these functions. A mission may come in. as a part of these functions.