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Even a few sayings of Baba give us an idea of his
personality. One of the key words of his philosophy is Love. "Start the
day with love", he says "fill the day with love, spend the day with love,
end the day with love: This is the way to God." Truth is another word. "
There are three I's", he says, "the one you think you are; the one that
others think you are; and the one you really are; the one that others
think you are; and the one you really are." He prescribes Dharma or right
action is another word. "Start early", says Baba, "drive slowly and reach
safely." Those who enter the Nilayam at Puttaparthi read this legend of
peace: "You are in the light. The light is in you. You are the
light."
Even if we approach him on the moral and ideological plane,
the purity of his living and the width of his thinking are breath-taking.
He has said that love is his own image or swarupa; peace is his own
abiding attitude or swabhava; Dharma or right action his unfailing way of
doing things and Sathya or truth the element he lives and breathes in. He
is Purity itself.
As for his largeness of vision, one has to remember
his affirmation that all religions are pathways to the Divine. The Hall of
Meditation in Prasanthi Nilayam has, on its walls, portraits of the Buddha
and Jesus Christ, Zoroaster and Guru Nanak, Sankaracharya and
Madhwacharya. The Prasanthi symbol of the unfolding lotus is itself
encompassed by Aum, the Wheel of Dharma, the Sacred Fire, the Crescent and
the Star and the Cross. He has also warned us repeatedly that we should
not be limited by the form and name of Sai. All other names and forms are
equally divine and we should have the same respect and affection for them.
What matter is the one effluent Spirit behind many names and forms?
Baba's is a presence that is felt everywhere. He knows every thing for
he has access to what W.B. Yeats calls the Earth Memory. His psychokinetic
and other powers transcend cosmic laws.
The omnifelicity that he
diffuses through his universal love has been widely felt and
experienced.
As for the individual, Baba leads him all the way from
desire to illumination. He showers on the devotee the affection of a
mother, Sai Janani. He has the power to fulfil the legitimate desires of
the devotee and succor him in distress. He is also the relentless hammerer
and shaper of souls passing human beings through the furnace of sorrow or
the streams of joy as the occasion requires it. His field of sports is
eternity, not time. He has neither pity nor hate but love - the love that
cuts an agate and the love that saves.
God can transform the
collectivity in a miraculous way. Baba is not a pawn but a player who has
the strength derived from the Unfailing Champion in the game of chess
played on the cosmic checkerboard. The transformation has to be achieved
humanly and through human means.
For this purpose, Baba has
sketched out a comprehensive programme. A citizen has to be trained in
right action though sevadal disciple - attending to patients in hospitals
and erring children in remand homes and helping those in distress. It is
the sacred duty of the rich to feed he poor and look after them. The
coming generation has to be trained for right action through well-devised
courses in bal vihars, Mahila vibhags and colleges for men and for women
especially started for the purpose.
Through Sathya Sai study
circles and Vidvan Mahasabhas or contacts with the learned through their
discourses, one has to develop one's vision of Truth. The Sathya Sai
Samithis work for peace and concord. They draw their members from all
castes and creeds, all communities and language groups. They learn to work
together as a fraternity. They chant the heart-easing songs or bhajans of
Baba and move for nagar sankirtan or itinerant devotional singing in the
early hours of the morning, waking up fellow-citizens with the utterances
of the name of God. They worship Him in all names and forms.
To the
sceptic who thinks it is absurd to take any human being as God, Baba says:
"Yes, I am God. What capacity do you have, as you stand, to test this
statement? Plunge into your own soul and see from there. You will then
realise the truth of the statement. I may add that you are also God." The
concept of Avatarhood has to be understood in its proper context. An
avatar is the saviour who takes the human evolution a step higher. He is a
ray direct from the Supreme and it is because of his presence in a world
hemmed in by cosmic laws that there is the possibility of transcendent
grace. |