Leela:
Once, Mrs. Tarkhad was staying in a certain house in Shirdi. At noon, meals were ready and dishes were being served when a hungry dog turned up there and began to cry. Mrs. Tarkhad got up at once and threw a piece of bread, which the dog gulped with great relish. In the afternoon, when she went to the Masjid and sat at some distance, Sai Baba said to her, "Mother, you have fed Me sumptuously up to my throat, My afflicted pranas (life-forces) have been satisfied. Always act like this, and this will stand you in good stead. Sitting in this Masjid I shall never, never speak untruth. Take pity on Me like this. First give bread to the hungry, and then eat yourself. Note this well." She could not at first understand the meaning of what Baba said. So she replied -- "Baba, how could I feed You? I am myself dependent on others and take my food from them on payment." Then Baba replied -- "Eating that lovely bread I am heartily contended and I am still belching. The dog which you saw before meals and to which you gave the piece of bread is one with Me, so also other creatures (cats, pigs, flies, cows etc.) are one with Me. I am roaming in their forms. He, who sees Me in all these creatures is My beloved. So abandon the sense of duality and distinction, and serve Me, as you did today." Drinking these nectar-like words, she was moved, her eyes were filled with tears, her throat was choked and her joy knew no bounds.
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), p56
Teachings from Leela:
1) Always look after the basic needs of others before your own
In this leela, Baba wanted to teach us compassion for other beings. Mrs. Tarkhad felt compassion for the hungry dog and fed it a part of the bread from her own plate. There is no point in worshipping God while ignoring the basic needs of the other beings around you.
The feeling of hunger is universal amongst all beings, and each of us must be able to have empathy based on this need. We share many other needs with other beings, such as thirst, need for shelter, protection from danger and care during sickness. There are many other needs that we can understand by analogy, even though we cannot directly relate to them, such as the need for a plant to have sunlight.
Contemplating upon this leela, we can both broaden and deepen our compassion and love for other beings. In fact, Baba instructs us here to put others’ needs before our own: “First give bread to the hungry, and then eat yourself”.
2) Love all beings as deeply as you love God
Here Baba is instructing us to expand to all beings, the love we have for Him, by informing us that he can appear to us as any of these creatures.
We believe that, as humans, we are superior to all animals, and have the right to freely exploit them for our own benefit. We do not hesitate to kill them for food, sport or entertainment, destroy their habitats, or exploit them in any number of ways.
It is not enough to have some greater regard for these creatures (both human and other) with whom you share this world; you must look to them with the same deep love that you have developed for God.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Always look after the basic needs of others before your own
My Dad used to say, “Where there is daya (compassion), there is dharma (righteousness), and where there is dharma, there is God”.
In this leela, Baba has already provided practical instruction on how to apply the teaching to your own day-to-day life. Use your understanding of your own basic needs as a guide on how to relate to the needs of others. Contemplate on this, from the point of view of other creatures in need, to deepen your compassion. Look for opportunities to put this into practice.
Following this teaching does not mean that you must subject yourself to manipulation by others, or over-extend yourself beyond your capacity. Develop wisdom to tell when the need is genuine, and is a basic need for survival, not a frivolous want. Understand the limitations of your resources and capabilities.
2) Love all beings as deeply as you love God
If you follow the jnana (knowledge) path of spiritual development, you will come to learn that the consciousness you experience is only One, and all other creatures who also experience consciousness are experiencing the exact same consciousness you are. There is no difference between you and them. Knowing this intellectually is not enough; you must bring it into your daily practice. The example Baba provides in this leela is a great starting point: contemplate upon the idea that every person or creature that you come across in your daily life is truly one with God. Go through a mental exercise, where you try to expand the love you have developed for your Sadguru to another person or animal. Do this repeatedly, deepening your love for this person or creature each time.
Of course, the teaching is invaluable to those on the bhakti (devotional) path too.
Seeing God in all beings, allows us to expand our love and respect to all beings, but we must be practical about it. Our immature understanding of seeing God in all beings can sometimes get us into trouble. This point is well explained in the following story about Sri Ramakrishna, who had a unique way of imparting spiritual instruction:
In a forest there lived a holy man who had many disciples. One day he taught them to see Narayana (God) in all beings and hence have a reverential attitude towards everyone. The disciples once went inside a forest to gather wood for a sacrificial fire. Suddenly, they heard a warning “get out of the way, a mad elephant is coming”. All the disciples except one ran away and took shelter in a safe place. But, one disciple reasoned that since the Guru had taught them to see Narayana i.e. God, in every being, the elephant is also God in another form and if so why should he run away from it. He stood still, bowed before the elephant and started chanting some stotras. The Mahout of the elephant shouted, “Run Away !, Run Away!”, but the disciple didn’t move.
The animal lifted him up with his trunk and threw him forcefully on the ground aside and went away. Hurt and bruised the disciple lay unconscious on the ground. Coming to know what had happened, his teacher and brother disciples came to the spot where he was lying and carried him to the hermitage. After some first-aid, he soon regained consciousness.
Then, the teacher asked him, “You saw the animal coming and also heard the warning, then why didn’t you run away?”. The disciple replied, “Sir, you taught us to see God in every being, hence I thought that the animal is also God in another form and hence I didn’t run away.” Then the teacher corrected him saying, “Yes my child, it is true that the elephant was God in another form, but the Mahout who was driving the elephant was also God and he instructed you to run away. Since all are manifestations of God, why you didn’t trust the Mahout’s words? You should have heeded the words of Mahout God.”
God dwells in all beings, but we can be intimate only with the good people and must keep away from the evil minded. (note 1).
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.
Notes:
1) https://rgyan.com/blogs/who-god-actually-is
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