Leela:
Mr. Sathe, who had suffered
severe losses in business, was sad and dejected. His friends advised him to go
to Shirdi, where many were flocking to get Sai Baba's darshan, to obtain peace
of mind and the satisfaction of their many desires. He set off at once for
Shirdi.
He arrived at the village,
took darshan and prostrated himself at Baba’s Feet. Seeing Baba's Form, which
was like Brahman, the eternal, self-luminous, spotless and pure, his mind lost
its restlessness and was overcome with joy.
Mr. Sathe was a man of
strong will. At once, and with great perseverance, he started parayana (regular
reading) of the Guru Charitra. When the reading was completed in one saptaha (week), Baba appeared
to him in a dream that night. In his dream, Baba was reading the Guru-charitra and
explaining its contents to Mr. Sathe, who was sitting in front of him and
listening very respectfully.
When he woke up, he
remembered the dream and, later that morning, relayed it all to Kakasaheb Dixit.
He requested Kaka to consult Baba regarding its significance, and to ask whether
one saptah reading was sufficient, or whether he should begin another reading.
Kakasaheb Dixit, when a
suitable opportunity arose, asked Baba, "Deva, what did you suggest to Mr.
Sathe by this vision? Should he stop, or continue the saptaha? He is a simple
devotee. His desire should be fulfilled, the vision explained to him, and he
should be blessed."
Baba replied, "He
should do one more saptah of the book. If this work is studied carefully, the
devotee will become pure and will be benefitted. The Lord will be pleased and
will rescue him from the bondage of the mundane existence."
When this conversation was
taking place, Hemadpant was present, massaging Baba's Legs. When he heard
Baba's words, he thought to himself, "Strange indeed are Baba’s ways! Mr.
Sathe read for only a week and was rewarded, while I have been reading this
book for forty years with no result! His seven days' stay here has become
fruitful while my seven-year stay has resulted in nothing. Like a Chatak bird (a
bird from Indian mythology with a beak on its head, who waits for rains to
quench its thirst), I am ever waiting for the Cloud of Compassion to rain its
nectar on me. When will that day come, when this greatest among saints will
satisfy my fond wish? Will he ever bless me with spiritual instruction?"
Just as this thought crossed
his mind, Baba said to him, “Go to Shyama and bring 15 rupees from him. Sit
with him a while and talk to him. Then come back here, bringing with you the
dakshina he gives. Go at once and ask Shyama for money on my behalf”.
Hemadpant immediately left
the Masjid and went to Shyama's house. Shyama had just finished bathing. He
came out and asked Hemadpant, "How is it that you are here now? It seems
that you have come from the Masjid. Why do you look restless and dejected? Why
are you alone? Please sit and rest while I do my prayers. Meanwhile, please
take pan-vida (leaves and betel nuts etc.) When I return, we can talk".
He went inside and Hemadpant
sat alone in the front verandah. He saw, in the window, the Nath Bhagwat (a commentary by the Saint
Ekanath on the eleventh Skandha (chapter) of Shrimad Bhagwatam).
At Baba’s suggestion, several
devotees residing in Shirdi read various spiritual books as a daily practice. When
visiting devotees came to Baba and asked Him certain questions, He sometimes instructed
them to go and listen to one of these readings. When the devotes went and
listened, they received full and satisfactory replies to their questions.
Hemadpant used to read daily from the Nath Bhagwat, this same book.
That day, he had not
completed his reading, but had left it unfinished, so that he could accompany some
devotees to the Masjid. When he picked up the book from Shyama's window and
casually opened, it, he found, to his surprise, that the book opened at the
very page where he had abandoned the book earlier that day. He realized that
Baba sent him, very kindly, to Shama's house to give him the opportunity to
complete his daily reading, and to come to the realization that he had been
neglecting his practice.
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), p94
Based on
Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R.
Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p147
Teachings from Leela:
1) Discipline and perseverance are necessary for your spiritual
success
Baba acknowledged Mr. Sathe’s effort and commitment, by
proclaiming that it was only necessary for Mr. Sathe to read the book one more
time, with the same will and intensity, to extract all the learnings from it.
When we compare this to Hemadpant’s readiness to abandon his
daily reading, it gives us an indication of his lack of commitment to his
spiritual practice. Hemadpant’s complaint was that Baba had given Mr. Sathe
spiritual instruction after only one week of effort, while he had received no
such instruction after many years of effort.
Baba made it clear to Hemadpant that:
1.
He
knew of Hemadpant’s daily commitment to read the Guru Charitra.
2.
He knew
Hemadpant had abandoned his reading that day, and the exact page where he had
done so.
3.
Hemadpant
needed to complete this reading.
4.
the regular
reading of this particular book with great perseverance was important to
Hemadpant’s spiritual development.
By communicating all of this to Hemadpant, Baba was providing
Hemadpant the spiritual instruction he felt he had not yet received.
Via this leela, Baba points out to us that, while our Sadguru
provides guidance and monitors us in our spiritual journey, for us to progress,
we must bring discipline and perseverance to our spiritual practice.
2) Spiritual progress is entirely based on merit, and not on any
other factor, such as the time spent on the journey, social status or
association with others who are spiritually advanced
Hemadpant had been reading the ‘Guru-Charitra’ for the past 40
years and had been in Baba’s company for the past 7 years, while Mr. Sathe had read
the same book for only one week and had known Baba for the same length of time.
Hemadpant felt that the time he had spent in his spiritual practice and in
close proximity to Baba should have resulted in him receiving more from Baba in
terms of spiritual instruction, recognition and spiritual advancement.
It is not the time spent on your spiritual journey but your
actual spiritual growth that reflects your spiritual advancement. Baba was not
being partial to Mr. Sathe or unfair to Hemadpant. He was basing his spiritual
instruction entirely on the level of development of each devotee and what they
required for their further development.
Putting into Practice
Here are some
suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Discipline and perseverance are necessary for your spiritual
success
In my previous blog, Chapter 12, Leela 5: A Doctor I have written about the
importance of discipline for our spiritual progress.
Have
you made any commitment related to your spiritual progress? In today’s fast
paced world, we are very busy making ends meet and our minds are pre-occupied.
Spend some time to divert the attention of your mind towards your own spiritual
progress and set goals for yourself. This will help you discipline your mind to
shift its focus away from the rat race and spend some quality time dedicated to
your spiritual practice. In the end what matters is how have you grown
spiritually. Are you utilizing your time well in this lifetime?
It requires a lot of discipline to face the challenges you must face to fulfill your commitments. At times it will require you to work outside
your comfort zone to achieve results. Do not hesitate to work hard and overcome
these challenges by reminding yourself about the teachings of this leela and
why Baba wants us to have the discipline to follow through our commitments.
Don’t be overly
ambitious at first. Only take on spiritual commitments you can keep, and then
keep them. As you are successful with them, you can gradually become more and
more ambitious.
Let us all
make a commitment to make spiritual progress by dedicating some part of our
everyday life, however small, to work towards it, and then very firmly stick to
that commitment.
2) Spiritual progress is entirely based on merit, and not on any
other factor, such as the time spent on the journey, social status or
association with others who are spiritually advanced
In our individual journeys towards moksha, each of us is at a different
level of spiritual growth. For this reason, never compare yourself with others
in terms of spiritual achievement. At the face of it, it might seem that Baba
blessed Mr. Sathe after only one week worth of effort. In fact, we all
accumulate our spiritual growth over several lifetimes, making progress based on
our own effort, not only in this lifetime, but on our cumulative effort over
many, many lifetimes.
For this reason, the wise ones have advised us that, along with
earning our livelihood, we must spend some time and energy towards making
spiritual progress too. That effort is not lost but accumulated. In each
lifetime, we advance from where we left off. Just like a student moves from
grade 1 to the next grade, so is true with our spiritual growth. My Vedanta
Guru, Rita Nayar, used to say that, just as a person wakes up from sleep at the
same place where he slept, so also, when we die, we start our spiritual lessons
from the same place we left off.
According to the Learning Mind blog, there are seven stages of spiritual growth:
Spiritual
growth is a journey with many twists and turns. But there are clear stages we
can recognize on our path to spiritual wholeness.
1.
A complete absence of awareness and
connection to your spiritual self
2.
A recognition or remembrance that there is
more than the material world
3.
Spiritual curiosity – a thirst to find out
more about the spirit and our spiritual self
4.
Spiritual exploration and study
5.
Developing a spiritual practice
6.
An acceptance of yourself and others.
7.
Spiritual maturity
Sense of
Entitlement
A sense of entitlement is when a
person perceives themselves as deserving of unearned privileges.
Approach
your spiritual practice without any sense of entitlement. Do not care only
about your own desires and needs. Be satisfied with what you have received
without expecting more and more.
Here
are some questions to keep in mind as you contemplate upon this teaching:
·
Do you find yourself
believing that you are somehow unique or special in your spiritual quest?
·
Do you find yourself
expecting more from Baba than what is ordinarily provided to other devotees?
Such
feelings must be overcome to continue your spiritual progress. Instead, you
must replace these feelings with focus, determination and commitment towards
your spiritual tasks.
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.
