Leela:
In Shirdi, bazaar was held every Sunday. People from the neighbouring villages came, erected booths and stalls on the street, and sold their wares and commodities. Every noon the Masjid was somewhat crowded, but on Sundays it was completely packed. On one such Sunday, Hemadpant sat in front of Baba, massaging His legs while repeating God's name under his breath. Shama was on Baba's left and Vamanrao to His right. Shriman Booty and Kakasaheb Dixit and others were also present.
Shama laughed as he reached out and touched Hemadpant’s sleeve, “I see some grains seem to be stuck to the sleeve of your coat”. Hemadpant straightened his left arm to see what the matter was, when to the surprise of all, some grains of channa (roasted chick peas) came rolling down, to be picked up by the people sitting nearby.
This incident provided good subject-matter for a joke, and everybody present began to wonder out aloud as to how the grains could have found their way into the sleeve of the coat. Hemadpant himself could neither remember nor guess as to how they got there.
When everyone had their say and no satisfactory explanation was offered for this mystery, Baba said, “This fellow (Hemadpant) has the bad habit of eating alone. Today is a bazaar-day and he was there chewing channa. I know his habit and these grains of channa are a proof of it. What is there to wonder in this matter?”
Hemadpant responded, “Baba, I have never eaten things alone, then why do you thrust this bad habit on me? I have not even seen the Shirdi bazaar today. I did not go to the bazaar today, then how could I buy channa, and how could I eat them if I had not bought them? I never eat anything unless I share it with others present near me”.
Baba said, “It is true that you share with persons present, but if none is nearby, what could you or I do? The question is, do you remember Me before eating? Am I not always with you? Do you offer Me anything before you eat?”.
Based on 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), p125
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p203-204
Teachings from Leela:
1) Before you enjoy any sensory object, offer it to your Sadguru or God first
In this leela, Baba has, in His unique and humorous way, instructed us to offer food to God before eating ourselves. This teaching can be generalized to apply to all sense enjoyment.
As you are about to enjoy the experience of a worldly object, such as eating, drinking or watching a movie, begin by first offering the object or experience to your Sadguru or to God.
This has 3 benefits:
1) Since you think of your Sadguru every time you are about to experience something enjoyable, the number of times you think of your Sadguru over a day is going to grow.
This will gradually strengthen your bond with your Sadguru,
weaken your attachment to the material world, and develop viveka (discrimination) within you, so that you can recognize the
difference between what is real and unreal, permanent and temporary. These attachments are amongst your greatest obstacles in
achieving your spiritual goal of liberation from samsara (cycle of life and
death in the material world) and suffering.
2)
If the
object you are going to experience could hinder your spiritual development, you
will find yourself a little ashamed when offering it. Over time, you will
become motivated to reduce your experience with it.
3) If the object does not hinder your spiritual practice, but you are overly attached to its enjoyment, your attachment will gradually diminish over time, as you continue to offer it each time you enjoy it.
This technique can be applied even more broadly, beyond sense enjoyment, to incidents where you find yourself in a frame of mind or emotion which is not compatible with spiritual practice. Whether it is anger, jealousy, greed, or a feeling of self importance, offer these thoughts and emotions to your Sadguru, and you will find that they too will diminish.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Before you enjoy any sensory object, offer it to your Sadguru or God first
Whenever you put anything in your mouth (even if you are drinking water), first offer it to Baba mentally and then consume the food or drink. My husband and I have incorporated this message in our lives and we have noticed that in this way we get many opportunities throughout the day to remember Baba and to feel his closeness to us.
You can expand this to any enjoyable activity, whether it is watching a movie, enjoying the company of close friends, or going on a holiday. You will not enjoy the activity any less, but over time, this will work to loosen the bonds of attachment that hold you to samsara (the cycle of birth and death in the material world).
If you indulge in unhealthy activity, such as smoking, drinking excessively, or eating unhealthy food, this technique will work to weaken the hold this activity has on you, and you will eventually be able to stop it.
Also, if you catch yourself in an emotion which works as an obstacle to your spiritual development, such as anger, jealousy, self pride or greed, offer this emotion to your Sadguru or God in the same way. This will gradually weaken the hold these emotions have on you.
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.
2 comments:
Good one.
Jai Sai Ram! Thanks Dipu.
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