Leela:
I (the author, G. R. Dabholkar, alias Hemadpant) could not ask Sai Baba to give me permission for this work (writing the Sai Satcharitra), so I requested Mr. Madhavrao Deshpande (alias Shama), Baba’s most intimate devotee, to speak to Him on my behalf.
He pleaded for my cause and said to Sai Baba, “This Annasaheb wishes to write Your biography. Don’t say that You are a poor begging Fakir and there is no necessity to write it, but if You agree and help him, he will write, or rather, Your feet (grace) will accomplish the work. Without Your consent and blessing, nothing can be done successfully”.
When Sai Baba heard this request, He was moved and blessed me by giving me His Udi (sacred ashes), and placing His boon-bestowing hand on my head, said “Let him make a collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos; I will help him. He is only an outward instrument. I will Myself write My autobiography and satisfy the wishes of My devotees. He should get rid of his ego, place (or surrender) it at My feet. He who acts like this in life, him I help the most. What of My life-stories? I serve him in his house in all possible ways. When his ego is completely annihilated and there is no trace left of it, I Myself shall enter into him and shall Myself write My own life. Hearing my stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will easily get self-realization and Bliss”.
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), p7
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p11
Teachings from Leela:
1) Sadguru plans for His devotee’s spiritual needs even after He is no longer in His Sagun form
Baba inspired Hemadpant to write the Sai Satcharitra and gave him His blessings to keep notes and make a collection of all the authentic stories, experiences, conversations, talks, etc. This was Baba’s way of planning to deliver His teachings to His contemporary devotees, and future devotees who would not be fortunate enough to see Baba in his sagun form.
What are Sagun Brahman and Nirgun Brahman?
There are two aspects of God or Brahman (the One Universal Consciousness): nirgun (the unmanifested), and sagun (the manifested). Nirgun is formless, while Sagun is with form, though both denote the same Brahman. Since we have a form (body, senses, etc.), we prefer to worship God with form, Sagun Brahman. When we advance in our spiritual practice, we will one day worship God without form, Nirgun Brahman.
Via this
leela, Baba, our Sadguru, made sure that all His devotees’ spiritual needs would
be taken care of, even after He would no longer be in His sagun
form.
2) Perform your karmas while keeping yourself unattached to their results, maintaining humility and by surrendering your Ego to your Sadguru
Via this leela, Baba is trying to teach us that in order to make spiritual progress, we must get rid of our Ego and surrender it at our Sadguru’s feet.
What is Ego?
Ego, in
Sanskrit is called Ahamkara. Aham means “I” and kara
means “doer”. When we identify ourselves with our body, we create a feeling of
“me” or “mine”. Until we are attached to our body and are ignorant of our true
divine nature, we think we are the doer of our karmas and
become attached to its results, which can give rise to an even stronger and more
inflated Ego.
Hemadpant gave up his Ego and surrendered to Baba by asking for His grace and blessings to accomplish the task of writing the Sai Satcharitra. He did not take credit for writing the Sai Satcharitra and considered himself only an instrument, incapable of taking on this task without Baba’s grace and blessings. Hemadpant conveyed to Baba that without His consent and blessings, nothing could be done successfully.
What is our true nature?
Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman), found in the Vedas,
the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavat Gita, is the highest
knowledge. Following the jnana marga (the path of
knowledge) is one way to know your true nature, which is Brahman,
(Sat-chit-anand, the One
Universal Consciousness).
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Sadguru plans for His devotee’s spiritual needs even after He is no longer in His Sagun form
First, learn about the core teachings of your Sadguru then assimilate them in your daily life. Here is an example from the Mahabharata to illustrate the deeper level of maturity in assimilation.
The great teacher Dronacharya is instructing a group of young Kaurava and Pandava princes to learn the teaching, “Speak the truth. Never become angry.” He asks them to return the next day to demonstrate their learning.
Most consider the task simply to memorize and repeat the teaching verbatim. The following day they all do this—except for Yudishthira, who repeats only the first half and says, “I haven’t been able to learn the second half.” He continues this each day for a week until Dronacharya confronts him: “A whole week has passed and still you haven't been able to learn your lesson!”
Yudhishthira doesn’t become upset or angry at his teacher’s reprimand and instead responds, “Sir, you said a whole week has passed, but even if my whole life were to pass, I'm not sure that I could learn this lesson properly. My idea of a lesson is not repeating it and just saying ‘Never become angry’. My idea of learning is never to be angry, and unless I'm like that, I can't truly say I've learned the lesson.”
In this story, we can see evidence of Yudhishthira’s reflective study. He contemplated the deeper meaning of the teaching he had been asked to learn and, indeed, the deeper meaning of “learning” itself. He refused simply to mimic the words but instead chose to truly take them in. His lack of anger at the rebuke demonstrates that he is, most certainly, assimilating the teaching. Dronacharya acknowledges that Yudhisthira is the true student.
As a tribute to Baba, let us all keep Him alive in our hearts, by remembering His teachings, and by putting them into practice in our daily lives.
1) Perform your karmas while keeping yourself unattached to their
results, maintaining humility and by surrendering your Ego to your Sadguru
Whenever you
do something nice do not take pride or attach yourself to the results of your
action. Stay unattached and do your duty without expectations. Accept any
results that come your way, even if they are not what you expect.
How can we attain the knowledge of our true
nature?
We must stop looking outside
ourselves to find our true nature and look inwards instead. The answers lie
within us. This is not an overnight process and takes many lifetimes to attain.
However, we must start the journey in order to reach the destination some day. No
effort goes to waste in your spiritual endeavour; in each life, you begin where
you left off in your previous life.
Once we begin to understand our true nature, we come to understand the illusory
nature of Maya (this illusory world), which at its core, is
nothing but ignorance. This knowledge will help us become unattached to our karmas.
We free ourselves from the bondage of “I” and “mine,” as we begin to notice
that there is only one pure consciousness, which is our true divine nature.
This Consciousness is everywhere and in everything. In this
state there is no “I” or “Mine”.
How can we get rid of our Ego, while we are still novices on this spiritual
path?
We must teach ourselves to stop thinking in terms of “I”, “me” and “mine” and start thinking in terms of what is the most ideal thing to do in a situation, or better yet, ask ourselves, what would our Sadguru do in this situation? Even if we cannot act similarly to our Sadguru, this approach will lead us to seek out the most suitable way to act. This will cause us to make constant spiritual progress.
An inflated Ego proves to be an obstacle when trying to progress spiritually.
Making progress on the spiritual path requires perfect humility, as for your
Sadguru’s grace to flow towards you there is no room for Ego.
Gain victory over your Ego by unattaching yourself to the results of your karmas,
staying humble, and surrendering your Ego to your Sadguru.
|
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.
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