Leela:
There was in Shirdi, a very quaint and queer fellow, by name Nanavalli. He looked to Baba's work and affairs. He once approached Baba who was seated on His Gadi (seat) and asked Him to get up, as he wanted to occupy the same. Baba at once got up and left the seat, which he occupied. After sitting there awhile Nanavalli got up, and asked Baba to take His seat. Then Baba sat on the seat and Nanavalli fell at His feet, and then went away. Baba did not show the slightest displeasure in being dictated to and ousted.
Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20th Edition 2002), p61
Teachings from Leela:
1) Egoism is an obstacle to our spiritual growth
Egoism is the arrogance, self-pride and sense of entitlement that comes from one’s status in society, or from what one possesses. Attachment to worldly pleasures results in egoism, which is the root cause of suffering in this world. If there is even a little threat of losing your prestige or your possessions, you are likely to react with wrongful thoughts or actions. Because of this, you must detach yourself from these pleasures.
Detachment does not mean that you must give up the pleasures; it means that you are easily able to accept the loss of the pleasures without any anger or resentment. When you practice detachment from worldly pleasures, you will gain wisdom to know the difference between the temporary (as all worldly pleasures must come to an end) and the permanent (moksha), which will help you progress in your spiritual journey.
It is only when the mind becomes detached to the attractions of the world that spiritual progress can result. Baba’s Gaddi consisted of mere sackcloth, nothing more. When Nanavalli asked Baba to get up, he immediately did so with full humility and without taking any offense. Baba had no attachment or egoism of claiming his exclusive rights to the Gaddi and did not show any anger towards Nanavalli’s demand.
2) The love, honour and respect that really matter, come to the person, not the position. Yet you must not allow even these to interfere with your spiritual progress
We don’t know what was going on in Nanavalli’s mind when he asked Baba to get up from his seat, but he could have 2 possible reasons for doing so:
· Nanavalli wanted to test Baba to see how He would react when asked to get up from His seat (this has already been discussed above).
· Nanavalli thought that he too could receive the same love, honour and respect as Baba just by sitting on His seat.
Baba’s seat consisted of mere sackcloth, nothing more. His devotees honour and revere Him greatly, and by doing this, have put Him on a symbolic Seat of adoration. Upon sitting on the seat, Nanavalli would have realized that the honour and reverence is not aimed at the sackcloth, but at the person of Baba. He would also have noted that, along with that honour and reverence, came tremendous responsibility towards the devotees, which he was incapable to fulfill. Realizing this, Nanavalli fell at Baba’s feet.
Baba, as Sadguru, has taken responsibility for each of his devotees’ spiritual development. Baba guides each of them, tailoring his help to the way best suited for them. He, upon occasion, also takes upon some of his devotees’ suffering, where this allows the devotees to better focus on their spiritual progress instead of using up their energies to deal with the suffering.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Egoism is an obstacle to our spiritual growth
How can we detach from worldly pleasures? Below is an example given by our Vedanta teacher, Rita Nayar, to help us understand how to practice detachment by first attaching to something more conducive to our spiritual development.
Observe a child playing with toys. If you realise that she picked up some sharp, potentially harmful object, you will try to take it away. Every parent knows that you must first give her something that will be of interest, so that she will release her hold of the sharp object and grab the new object. Similarly, as adults, we must practice developing our attachment to God (bhakti), which will help us to detach ourselves from this world’s pleasures.
Another approach to reducing attachment is to practice Karma Yoga, which is self-less service without any expectation of reward or recognition. This will teach you humility and work to reduce your ego.
Either practice can be started with a modest time commitment, but must be practiced consistently over time.
2) The love, honour and respect that really matter, come to the person, not the position. Yet you must not allow even these to interfere with your spiritual progress
If you find yourself the subject of praises and honours, you must not stop to bask in the praises, or any of the worldly rewards that come with your position. Focus on your responsibilities and detach yourself from the praises and honours, as they can easily entangle themselves in your ego and become an obstacle to your spiritual development.
Mantra:
Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ
Meaning:
May all be prosperous and happy
May all be free from illness
May all see what is spiritually uplifting
May no one suffer
Om peace, peace, peace
This above mantra is from the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/seekingshanti/2015/09/hinduprayerforeveryone_globalgoals/
I would encourage all of you to please share your interpretations, learnings and experiences on how you have put this leela into practice.
Om Sai Ram.
9 comments:
Thanks Neeti
Very encouraging...... will try to practice ����������������������������
The sign is folded hands but it has not come properly ...... anyways it's a good article
Thanks Dipu
Beautifully and clearly expressed
This is Baba side but there is more to it. Some lesson is from NanaValli too. Try to elaborate on that as well.
Thanks Harold
Thanks for pointing it out Pardeep, you are right. I am working on it and will update this post.
Jai Sai Ram Pardeep,
The post is updated with Nanavalli's perspective as well. Please review and appreciate your comments and suggestions.
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