Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

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Editorial

Five Gifts of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Lord Krishna declares that God incarnates from age to age whenever there is a decline in the practice of dharma and a rise of adharma (unrighteousness). He further adds that God comes for the protection of the good, the destruction of the wicked, and the promotion of the practice of dharma. (BG 4.07 and BG 4.08)

He then explains further that God takes birth in the human form, with a sweet name and divine qualities cloaked in maya. Anyone who understands the divine birth and divine works in the light of truth will be liberated from the cycle of birth and death, merging in the Lord. (BG 4.09)

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the paripoorna Avatar, and the incarnation of pure divine love, has shown that the purpose of human life is to realize our true nature –that we are embodiments of the divine atma and love. So, He always addresses us as divyatmaswaroopulara or premaswaroopulara. Swami also expands on the purpose of the descent of the Lord as an Avatar. He says that apart from establishing dharma, such a descent is to teach man about divine love, and only through love can one realize God, just as one can see the moon only through moonlight!

Lord Sai has come to teach us what divine love is and how one should live in such love. Love is the source, love is the path, and love is the goal of our lives. This love alone grants us bliss, or union with God. However, most of us who live in body-consciousness will find it difficult to be immersed in divinity all the time. For helping us achieve this goal, Swami has not only shown the way but also blessed us with five precious gifts to stay connected with Him easily. Let us dwell on them, one by one, in this editorial.

His Sweet Divine Name

The first gift I would like to discuss is His sweet divine name, ‘Om Sri Sai Ram.’ Swami once wrote a beautiful letter to the teachers and students in Brindavan, assuring them that anyone who has the name of Sai always on their lips will be a jivanmukta (liberated while alive). What an assurance that is! It is important to recognize the power of His name in ‘Om Sri Sai Ram.’ There are two powerful Taraka mantras embedded in this. Taraka mantras are mantras that lead to liberation. The first is Om, which is also called Pranava, as chanting it grants liberation. Om is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita 8.13 as Om Ityekakshraram Brahma, which means that one-syllable Om itself represents the supreme Parabrahman. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna assures us that those who chant Om in their last moment of life will merge with Him.

The second Taraka mantra is Rama. Swami extolled this name in many of His discourses. Swami explains that the name Rama includes three seed letters: ‘ra,’ ‘a,’ and ‘ma,’ which symbolize fire, the sun, and the moon. Fire burns away all our sins, negative tendencies, and bad karma. The sun dispels the darkness of ignorance, illuminating us with the light of wisdom. The moon represents coolness, providing calmness and peace. This illustrates the power of the Rama principle encompassing these three seed letters. Furthermore, Rama combines two powerful mantras: the syllable ‘Ra’ from the Ashtakshari mantra, the eight-letter mantra, Om Namo NaRAyanaya, and the syllable ‘Ma’ from the five-letter mantra, Om NaMAh Shivaya. Chanting each mantra individually leads to the goal of Self-realization. Thus, there are two powerful Taraka mantras contained in Swami’s name: Om and Rama. Additionally, it has a beautiful description of divine qualities. ‘Sri’ signifies auspiciousness and prosperity. In ‘Sai’ (Sa+Ayee), ‘Sa’ represents Shiva and ‘Ayee’ represents Shakti. Thus, the Sai name implies both Shiva or Brahman and its power, Shakti.

Next comes the ‘Sai’ principle, which provides various spiritual lessons on where to start and where to end. It offers a clear spiritual direction and path to all spiritual seekers. First, Sai Baba. In the very word Sai Baba, ‘Sai’ means mother, and ‘Baba’ means father. We need to develop a relationship with God while we still have body consciousness. God is our divine mother and divine father. When we develop that relationship, divine love flourishes. Next thing to do is give priority to ‘S,’ Swami in our life, then ‘a,’ all others next, then ‘i,’ the little individual I last. When we give the highest priority to God in our lives, the next stage follows naturally–we follow His teachings. One of His major mandates is SAI. ‘S’ stands for service, which is karma yoga, or doing selfless service. Next is ‘A’ for adoration, which is bhakti yoga. We worship and love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Then comes ‘I’, illumination, which is jnana yoga, wherein we explore the true nature of ourselves through self-inquiry.

When we follow these three paths of Service, Adoration, and Illumination, what happens? We get transformed by His love. We see that people who came in touch with Swami over time get transformed, and that transformation is ‘S’ for spiritual transformation, ‘A’ for association transformation, and ‘I’ for individual transformation. That is why Swami says spirituality is not for gathering information but for transformation. This is what He expects from us. When we get transformed, what will happen to our mind and senses, which are always going outward? They go inward! SAI, See Always Inside.

When we go inward, what do we experience? BABA, Being, Awareness, Bliss, and Atma. That is sat-chit-ananda, the ultimate unchanging reality, or Brahman, which is our true nature. Then, we go beyond name and form, and realize knowledge, existence, and bliss that is Satchidananda. When we reach the ultimate goal, what is that S-A-I? We realize that ‘Sai And I’ are one. So, there is no Swami separate from us; we are one. Swami exhorts us to constantly repeat “I am God,” which is a very powerful mantra. Then we realize ‘Aham Brahmasmi,’ I am Brahman. Thus, the entire spiritual path is laid out within His name. We can chant this name in any way with love. We can do verbal (Vachika) japa, verbal repetition, or write down His holy name repetitively, which is called likhita japa, or sing and glorify His beautiful name ‘Sai’ through melodious bhajans. We can contemplate His name in any of these ways, and it is bound to give us wonderful results.

Of the 8.4 million species of living beings on Earth, man is the pinnacle of creation. Man is the only one who is endowed with speech, which can express knowledge, poetry, and music. This great gift of speech, Swami says, is misused by the majority of people in slander, gossip, and rumor-mongering. The best way to sanctify our speech is by repeating the divine name, which is the first among the five gifts of our Lord Sai.

Just like the lamp on the threshold of the door illuminates both the inside and outside of the home, the name of the Lord on one’s tongue illumines and sheds light both outside and within!

His Enchanting Divine Form

Next, the second gift is His unparalleled, enchanting, and beautiful divine form.  We are very fortunate and blessed, since many pictures and videos of this paripoorna Avatar, Kaliyuga Avatar, are available, capturing His beautiful form. The more we see this form, the more we are drawn to see it. Swami referred to this divine beauty as sanatana (eternal) and nityanutana (ever new). That is why the more we see it, the more we want to enjoy that blissful experience. We can meditate on light, on His form, or various divine attributes of God, like mercy, compassion, and love. But for most devotees, it is a very easy and joyful experience to meditate or contemplate on His beautiful divine form. Swami assured us at the World Youth Conference on July 27, 2007, that if we contemplate for just 11 seconds, with a steady and calm mind, He will give us His darshan and also talk to us.

We read in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the beautiful form of Lord Krishna would make one forget oneself and easily lose body-consciousness. Swami relates the episode of one of the gopikas, Suguna, who saw the enchanting form of Lord Krishna in the flame of a lamp and put her finger into the flame to touch Him. She burned her finger but didn’t feel it as she had gone beyond body-consciousness. So also, the demoness Shurpanakha, whose nose and ears were cut off when she tried to attack Mother Sita, stood motionless during the infliction because she was mesmerized by the unparalleled beautiful form of Lord Rama. She even said that she would not have realized it even if her head had been chopped off! That is the beauty of the Lord in human form, which we see in our dear Swami as well. That is why each picture and video of Swami looks unique and special, since His divine beauty is enchanting, eternal, yet ever new.

His Amazing Divine Leelas

Next, the third gift of Swami is His divine leelas–His wonderful, awe-inspiring, astounding, and loving divine sports. These divine leelas are an expression of Swami’s divine love; they are also His calling cards to attract devotees. They are beyond the comprehension of the mind and logic.

These divine plays are described in various ways by many devotees and in several books. You can see this in the early years, called balya-leelas, which means His childhood sports. It is enchanting to listen to them or read about them. Swami used to go to a wish-fulfilling tree, a tamarind tree on the banks of the Chitravathi river, to fulfil the wishes of the devotees. From that tree, He would pluck an apple or a strawberry or any fruit or anything which the devotee desired. In those days, He used to have a lot of fun and play games. He would simultaneously appear in many places. He used to materialize various sweet dishes and delicacies for the devotees to relish. People near Him were blessed to witness many such beautiful leelas. Those days, Swami used to entertain the devotees with His beautiful singing for hours and hours. Then came the mind-boggling leelas, accompanied by important spiritual lessons.

One time, there was a geologist next to Swami, and there was a stone nearby. Pointing to it, Swami questioned, “What is this?” Being a scientist, the geologist replied that it was silicon and went on described the various structural and geological components of the stone. Swami then said, “Now, see.” He turned the stone into a beautiful, sweet sugar idol of Lord Krishna, giving the message that it is not just a stone. Even in the stone, God is present in the form of Lord Krishna holding His flute, and it is sweet. So, God is sweetness. God is beautiful. He wants us to see divinity in everything, and this leela illustrates that lesson.

Swami taught another beautiful lesson. He took a stone and gave it to a devotee, and it turned into rock candy. Then Swami asked, “What will you do with it?” He replied, “I will eat it.” Then Swami said, “Look at it,” and it turned back into a stone again. That teaches one that if one is selfish and self-centered, it will turn back into a stone, as one ought to share one’s blessings selflessly. In contrast, when an individual started to lovingly share with everyone the sweet Swami gave him, his hands never ran empty. So, the lesson is to unflinchingly share the love and gifts He gives us with one and all. Devotees were fortunate to witness many other leelas throughout His lifetime.

Swami made the lame walk, the blind see, and resurrected the dead to life. There are many well-documented instances of these leelas. We have heard personal accounts of how He resurrected Walter Cowan, Colonel Bose and many other devotees, which are in the annals of Sai history. All these wonderful leelas, preserved for eternity, are called Sai Bhagavatam: His glory, His history, and His divine story. We are fortunate that it is available in well-known books written by great devotees, such as Professor Kasturi (Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram) Howard Murphet (Man of Miracles), and books written by Dr. Jack Hislop, Mrs. Diana Baskin, and many others. But these leelas, these divine sports, are never-ending. Even now, after Swami left His physical form, they occur because He is omnipresent and omniscient. He never left us. He is our Eternal Companion. He was with us, He is with us, and He will be with us forever. Many experiences with Him are being shared in this magazine, Sathya Sai–The Eternal Companion, every month. In these pages, devotees from all over the world describe their spiritual journeys, how their lives have changed, how they are transformed, and how they enjoy a purposeful life full of peace and joy. This issue, too, has three such stories, namely those of Mr. Sanjai Murali, Mr. Krishna Samy, and Ms. Alida Parkes.

Listening to the glories of God, again and again, and reading about them is in itself a good sadhana. Shirdi Baba emphasizes that reading the divine stories of the Lord will lead us to the supreme goal. Hence, this is an important sadhana. When we talk about Hanuman, who is a great devotee of Lord Rama, it is said he had two noble qualities. He is always keen to be part of the divine mission and do His work. Second, he is always longing to hear about the stories and the glory of the Lord and His devotees. This is a rare and great blessing, a gift from the Lord, by which we can connect with Him and His devotees.

His Universal Teachings

Then the fourth and wonderful gift is His teachings. His universal and eternal message transcends the barriers of nationality, race, religion, faith, creed, gender, age, and culture. It applies to all people at all times, now and forever. His message is the quintessence of all scriptures. His every word is a mantra, every sentence is a sutra (aphorism), every discourse is a Veda, and every conversation is a Gita. What we need to do is to dive deep into these teachings. We are blessed and fortunate that, for the first time in human history, His divine teachings and His divine discourses are readily available in various media formats. In the print media, we can read books such as Sathya Sai Speaks. In the audio and video formats, we can hear, see, and enjoy His universal divine message. In addition, for the first time in the history of humanity, an Avatar out of  His love and infinite compassion has written books with His own hands in the form of Vahinis (streams of spiritual essence) on various spiritual topics. These include Dhyana Vahini on meditation, Prema Vahini on divine love, and Prasanthi Vahini on peace. He has also expounded on various scriptures, like the Bhagavad Gita in Gita Vahini, Brahma Sutras  in Sutra Vahini, and Bhagavatam in Bhagavata Vahini. Sixteen such Vahinis are available for all to read, and they are also available free as ebooks on the SSSIO website.

Being our eternal charioteer and eternal companion, Swami has proclaimed that this Avatar has come not only to share the divine message in a new light but also to give the innermost and deepest insights to the ancient scriptures in the simplest form for everyone. He explains in plain language the profound divine meaning and inner significance, apart from the literal meanings, of these scriptures.   

His Organization

The fifth gift is an important one. The most significant divine gift is the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO), which the Avatar Himself founded. In times past, many faith organizations were founded after the Avatar, such as Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, etc., left their physical form. But during the very lifetime of this Avatar, the SSSIO was founded, nurtured, and guided by Swami and continues to be guided by Him for over 60 years. After more than six decades, we can feel His tangible divine guidance even today. Furthermore, Swami assured us that those who participate and serve in the divine Organization will be liberated. During 1961 Dasara, He said all the people who serve selflessly with love and dedication in the Organization will be liberated from the cycle of birth and death. Not only they, but also their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be liberated. This is a wonderful assurance and blessing. Therefore, we need to jump into working in the divine mission with all our energy and enthusiasm because Swami has given us this noble platform and rare opportunity. He has given us a platform through which we can come together and intensify our sadhana in holy company rather than doing it alone. The more like-minded people come together to pursue a common and noble goal, the quicker and more easily divinity responds.

In this organization that Swami gave us, He established three wings along the lines of the three yogas: karma, bhakti, and jnana.

The Service Wing is the path of karma where we do selfless service to not only humanity, but also animals and nature. This is being carried out in around 110 countries where food, water, shelter, education, healthcare, and environmental services are provided to those in need. This is the path of karma yoga, the path of selfless service, which purifies our hearts. Swami says, “Purity is enlightenment.” Jesus also says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Next is the Devotion Wing, the path of bhakti, where we come together expressing our love and gratitude to God by singing His glory in bhajans, reciting prayers, chanting mantras, doing japa and meditation, and other devotional practices. This is a time-tested method, which is easy and one of the best for spiritual seekers.

Then comes the path of jnana, wherein we study Swami’s teachings intensely through study circles, dive deep into them, and explore how we can incorporate them into our daily lives. Thus, we get transformed and finally attain wisdom and experience Oneness. Then we realize that only one thing exists, and there is no duality because Swami says the dual mind is half blind. Finally, we experience, sarvam khalvidam Brahma (everything is pervaded by God). That is why this year, we chose Swami’s maxim, ‘Purity is Enlightenment,’ as the theme for the 11th World Conference. The SSSIO website also has a Study Guide on this subject, which was distributed earlier.

As an expression of love and gratitude  to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, devotees around the world started 100th Birthday celebrations, glimpses of which are presented in this issue.

Attain Eternal Bliss (Brahmananda)

Having received these wonderful five precious gifts and divine blessings, what is our responsibility and duty as devotees? Swami says that the only thing He wants from us is love and the transformation of our hearts. We need to become purer and get rid of the six inner enemies–desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and jealousy.

When we do sadhana with love, intensity, dedication, and determination, we can surely reach the goal quickly and easily and attain brahmananda, supreme bliss. It is eternal bliss, never-ending bliss, which knows no suffering, no grief. It is beautifully described in the Taittiriya Upanishad that brahmananda is one hundred quintillion times that of ordinary human happiness. Nine stages of happiness are described between human happiness (manushyananda) and brahmananda, where each stage is 100 times greater than the previous one. One hundred quintillion is 10 to the power of 20. That is why it is said that this eternal bliss cannot be expressed in words nor comprehended by the mind. It can only be experienced. God will take us to this exalted state when we do sadhana sincerely and steadily with love and determination and practice His divine teachings with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Jai Sai Ram.