Chapter 28, Leela 3: Evil eye

Leela:

On this occasion, he [Lakshamichand] once witnessed one night the procession to the chavadi. Baba then suffered much from cough. He thought that this suffering of Baba might be due to somebody's evil eye. Next morning when he went to the Masjid Baba spoke to Shama as follows - "I suffered last night from cough; is it due to some evil eye? I think that somebody's evil eye has worked on me and so I am suffering". In this case Baba spoke out what was passing in Lakshamichand's mind.

 

On seeing these proofs of Baba's omniscience and kindness to His Bhaktas, he fell prostrate at Baba's Feet and said - "I am much pleased with your darshan. Ever be kind and merciful to me and protect me always. There is no other God to me in this world except Your Feet. Let my mind be ever rapt in Your Bhajan and Feet. Let Your grace protect me from the miseries of the world and let me ever chant Your name and be happy".

 

After getting Baba' Udi and blessing he returned home with his friend, much pleased and contented and singing Baba's glory on the way. He remained a staunch devotee of baba afterwards and always sent garlands of flowers, camphor and Dakshina with any person of his acquaintance bound for Shirdi.

 

Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20^th Edition 2002), p148

 

Teachings from Leela:

1)    Baba appreciates his devotee’s affectionate concern for Him

In many cultures, as in India, it was believed that one could be given the curse of the “evil eye”, simply by someone looking at them with envy or malevolent intentions, which could cause illness or worse.  When a child would get sick, a mother’s first instinct would be that someone’s evil eye has been cast on her child.

Lakshamichand, due to his orthodox belief, thought that Baba’s coughing fit was due to somebody’s evil eye. Baba read his mind and appreciated his affectionate, motherly concern for Him. He acknowledged this concern by speaking aloud Lakshamichand’s thought to Shama.

2)    Since bad thoughts create bad karma, it is important to purify your mind.

Our mind produces all kinds of thoughts. Mind is the origin of action since every action begins with a thought. Bad thought results in bad action which leads to bad karma. Even if there is no action from the thought, the thought creates bad karma.

Through this leela Baba demonstrated to us that he is aware of each thought in our mind. He did this to make people aware that they should cleanse their minds of bad thoughts.

Baba wanted us to understand how important it is to purify our mind. The reason why Baba displays his omniscience is not to show off his ability to read our minds but to make us aware that we need to be careful with our thoughts just as much as our outward behaviour. It is not enough to show outward behaviour of being nice, polite and friendly but inward have desires, anger, jealously, greed, hatred and negativity towards others.

This is also an important step to prepare your mind for more advanced teachings. In our ancient teachings, there is a story of a man who approached a learned sadhu to teach him Atma Vidya. The sadhu asked him to prepare a meal and that he would come in the afternoon. When the sadhu arrived, and gave him the bhiksha patra, the man saw that the patra was very dirty and asked the guru, “how could I put fresh clean food in this dirty vessel?”. The sadhu replied, “how could someone with and unclean mind accept Atma Vidya?”.

Note: This teaching can also be found in the following leela(s):

https://at-the-feet-of-baba.blogspot.ca/2016/10/chapter-28-leela-2-sanza.html

Putting into Practice

Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.

1)    Baba appreciates his devotee’s affectionate concern for Him  

When on the spiritual path of devotion, you are cultivating your love and devotion towards God.  In the early stages, it is easiest to pattern your relationship with God upon a pattern of relationship with other people who are very close to you. 

Find a pattern that works for you in your relationship with God:  that of mother or father to a child, a child to a parent, a brother or sister, or a very close friend.  Have dialogs with him or her in this way to increase the closeness of your relationship.

2)    Since bad thoughts create bad karma, it is important to purify your mind.

Start observing yourself for both bad thought and bad action. If you catch yourself with a bad thought just dismiss it or replace it with a good thought. If you catch yourself doing a wrong action, for example getting angry, stop immediately. You will find that with consistent practice, the time it takes for you to catch yourself with a bad thought or bad action will get shorter and shorter.

Note: This teaching can also be found in the following leela(s):

https://at-the-feet-of-baba.blogspot.ca/2016/10/chapter-28-leela-2-sanza.html

 

 

 

 

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.