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.
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