Leela:
Baba required very little food for Himself, and the little He need, He obtained by taking bhiksha (food obtained by asking for alms) from a few houses, something He did daily. However, when He took it upon Himself to distribute food, He made all the preparations Himself. He depended on nobody and troubled none. First, He went to the bazaar and bought all the ingredients with cash. He did all the grinding Himself. In the open courtyard of the Masjid, He arranged a big hearth, and after lighting a fire underneath, put a Handi (deep, wide-mouthed cooking pot) over it with a proper measure of water. There were two sizes of Handi, one small, which served fifty, and the other large, which served one hundred.
Sometimes He cooked 'mitthe chaval' (sweet rice), and at other times 'pulao' (a rice dish) with meat. At times, He put small balls of thick or flat breads of wheat flour into the boiling varan (soup). He pounded the spices on a stone-slab and put the masala into the cooking pot. He took great pain to make the dishes as palatable as possible. He prepared 'ambil' (a sour porridge) by boiling jowar (sorghum) flour in water and mixing it with butter-milk. He distributed Ambil with the meal to all.
To check on the progress of the cooking, Baba rolled up the sleeve of His Kafni and put His bare arm into the boiling cauldron without the least fear and mixed the ingredients from side to side and up and down. There was no sign of burns on His arm nor fear on His face.
When the cooking was done, Baba moved the pots into the Masjid and had them duly consecrated by the moulvi (a learned Muslim who administers to the religious needs of others). First, He sent a part of the food as prasad to Mhalasapati and Tatya Patil, and then He served the remaining contents with His own hand, to all the poor and helpless, to their hearts' content.
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), p201
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p325
Teachings from Leela:
1) Your Sadguru selects material suitable to you, works hard to prepare it, make it as palatable as possible, at times suffering in the process, so that you can make spiritual progress
While the description of Baba lovingly preparing a large meal to feed dozens of poor is beautiful by itself, it is also a metaphor for Him doing the same for His devotees’ spiritual needs.
The purchasing and preparing of the ingredients represent Baba’s effort to collect materials for His devotees. The cooking represents Baba’s preparation of the raw ingredients into something his devotees can easily absorb. The adding of the freshly ground spices represents His effort to make the material as palatable as possible. The mixing of the hot, boiling ingredients with his bare arm represents the toil and pain He experiences in the preparation. The consecration of the food by the maulvi represents God’s blessings upon the material. The serving of the food by His own hand represents His loving attention to His devotee, as He provides him with the spiritual lesson.
The different vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals represent the different paths suited to devotees’ preferences, such as Jnana Marg (the Path of Knowledge) and Bhakti Marg (the Path of Devotion).
Such is your Sadguru’s effort towards your spiritual success.
2) Being vegetarian is not a prerequisite to making spiritual progress
Baba has made it very clear that He wants us to treat animals (and in fact all life) with compassion and not harm them in any way. Baba loved all living beings, He used to leave His food out to feed the stray dogs, pigs and birds before He ate even a morsel Himself. He sometimes cooked food for devotees with His own hands and served them with equal love and consideration. Those who ate non-vegetarian food were served non-vegetarian and those who ate vegetarian food were served vegetarian.
Baba never insisted that His devotees turn vegetarian to pursue the spiritual path. He wanted us to realise that eating the kind of food we are accustomed to does not make us any better or worse prepared than others for the spiritual journey. We need to focus on our inner spiritual preparation and progress and not so much on our outward lives. Perhaps, when the time is right in our spiritual progress, our liking for certain foods will change.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Your Sadguru selects material suitable to you, works hard to prepare it, make it as palatable as possible, at times suffering in the process, so that you can make spiritual progress
This leela provides a very beautiful and vivid image of Baba preparing large meals for his devotees. However, bringing the metaphor of Baba toiling to prepare materials for your spiritual progress can be immensely powerful.
When you’re struggling to meet your commitments towards your spiritual progress, when you’re feeling alone and unhappy, when you’re undergoing difficulties in life, bring this metaphor to mind. It will do wonders for you.
2) Being vegetarian is not a prerequisite to making spiritual progress
As discussed above, your food habits are not very relevant to your spiritual progress. Never allow your eating practices to determine how you feel towards your spiritual practice, whether for good or for ill. It is not particularly spiritual of you just because you are vegetarian, nor is it particularly un-spiritual of you if you are not.
The greatness of a nation and its moral
progress can be
judged by the way its animals are treated. – Mahatma Gandhi
However, those of you who have pets can understand compassion towards animals. You know that even though they might not be able to speak, they are still able to communicate their feelings to you. You wouldn’t want your pet to experience suffering.
We must all contemplate upon this, and practice to extend that empathy, compassion and kindness to all living beings, including animals raised and killed for food, clothing, product testing, or other such uses.
If you so wish, you can take small steps to reduce suffering in this world. Most of you already know of the horrific treatment given to animals raised for food or product testing. To discourage these industries who, profit from mistreating these animals, we could make alternative choices to food.
All it requires is that you raise your consciousness and make some minor changes to the products you buy and consume, by substituting to avoid encouraging cruelty to animals.
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Listen
to the stories with reverence; Reflect upon them deeply. Shirdi Sai Baba Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, Chapter 3, verse 18 |
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:
Nice explanation.
Jai Sai Ram 🙏. Thanks Pardeep.
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