Leela:
Once Tatya Kote Patil wanted to go in a tanga (horse buggy) to Kopergaon bazaar. He came in haste to the Masjid, saluted Baba, and informed Him that he is going to the bazaar.
Baba said, "Don't make haste, stop for a little while. Let go of the bazaar. Don't go out of the village". Then, on seeing Tatya’s anxiousness to go, Baba asked him to at least take Shama (Madhavrao Deshpande) with him.
Ignoring this instruction, Tatya immediately jumped into his tanga. Of the two horses, one was very energetic and restless. After passing Sawul Well, it began to sprint, wrenched its back and fell. Tatya was not much hurt but was reminded of Baba’s instruction.
Something similar happened on another occasion. This time Tatya was all set to go to a place called Kolhar. As he came in haste to the Masjid, horses were already being harnessed to the tanga. He saluted Baba and told Him that he would be back in no time. Although he had not obtained Baba's clear consent, Tatya set out.
The tanga was small and light, and on top of that, the horses began running wild. They would not stop even at the potholes and pits. Tatya's life stood in imminent peril! But Sai's Grace saved him.
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), p51
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p68
Teachings from Leela:
1) Your Sadguru can alert you to upcoming troubles due to your past karmas, but He cannot help you completely avoid them
Via this leela, Baba wants us to know that when you receive instructions from your spiritual master, do not disregard them as trivial, as they might be able to help you avoid major difficulties (due to your past bad karmas) headed your way.
Tatya came to Baba to pay his respects and to let Him know that he was going to the bazaar but was in haste and not willing to obey His instructions. Seeing his insistence to go, Baba, being omniscient, knew what would happen to Tatya if he stepped outside the village. To reduce the suffering Tatya, would have to face, Baba asked him to at least take Shyma with him. Tatya ignored this instruction too.
Why did Baba not explicitly tell Tatya, what was in store for him if he left the village?
Our Sadguru can only show us the right path, He cannot walk the path for us. He can alert us of the troubles coming our way, but it is up to us to follow His direction and act accordingly.
Baba cannot come in the way of the law of karma. He can alert us, and sometimes, take some of the suffering of His devotees upon Himself, but he cannot completely protect us from all suffering.
You can lead a horse to water, but…
Even though Tatya was fortunate to have lived alongside Baba, and spend much time with Him, he did not take advantage of Baba’s instructions to help protect him from upcoming danger. By disobeying Baba, not only did Tatya endanger himself, he endangered the horses as well.
Will Baba be able to alert us of our upcoming troubles since He is not present in His physical form?
In chapter 28, of the Sai Satcharitra, Baba said, "I require no door to enter. I have no form nor any extension; I always live everywhere”.
Baba is Sat-chit-ananda or Brahman (the universal consciousness), the universal witness consciousness witnesses everything in this Maya world. We are very fortunate that Baba is our Sadguru, so have shraddha (faith based upon knowledge and trust) in Him. In our times of troubles, if He would want to communicate with us, we will know it for certain, as your inner voice will tell you that, do not ignore this voice as you might regret it later, just like Tatya did in this leela.
Faced trouble and wondering why Baba did not alert you?
Baba knows what is best for you for your spiritual growth. Believe in Him, that there might be a good reason for you to go through this trouble as it will only help you grow spiritually. He is our father and He knows how to nurture His children so we must not doubt Him and accept all that comes our way as prashad from Him.
You might not have a choice with what you get in life, but you do have a choice on what attitude you receive it with. Take full responsibility for what happens in your life with the attitude of prashad buddhi. Just as we accept prasad in the temple, graciously and without complaining, we should accept all situations, pleasant or unpleasant, that come into our lives, as prasad from Baba. Be grateful for whatever is received and accept it with an attitude of prashad, without complaint.
2) If you do the same thing over and over again, you will get the same result
Having ignored Baba’s instructions the first time, of not leaving the village without His consent, Tatya suffered as a result.
Moreover, Tatya did not learn from this, and repeated the same error again. This leela, is a reminder to all of us to not repeat the same mistake over and over again. Via this leela, Baba is teaching us to learn from our mistakes the first time we commit them, and not repeat them. Otherwise, we will unnecessarily suffer the consequences of our mistakes again and again, until we finally take our learnings from it.
If you do the same thing over and over again, you will get the same result. There is a famous saying,
The definition
of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over again but expecting different results
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1) Your Sadguru can alert you to upcoming troubles due to your past karmas, but He cannot help you completely avoid them.
I experienced a situation that led me to believe that, even though Baba is no longer in His physical form, He is still guiding people and alerting them to their upcoming troubles:
My husband and I had gone out to a doctor’s appointment, leaving our two teenage sons home with my mother-in-law, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. We finished with the doctor and headed towards home. On the way, my husband suggested that we might as well stop by the pharmacy to have a prescription filled. I had a very uneasy feeling inside that I should be going home immediately. I ignored this feeling and we went to the pharmacy. When we finally returned home, we found several fire engines in front of our house.
It turned out that our kitchen had caught fire. Our younger son left something on the stove and left the kitchen to check on my mother-in-law, who was calling out. When he got back to the kitchen, the oil had caught fire. He was just about to pour a pitcher of water on the fire when my older son, who had just entered the kitchen, stopped him.
Poured water on an oil fire would have exploded as steam and splattered the burning oil all over the kitchen, including all over my younger son. He was saved just in time. We are very grateful to Baba that he was safe.
I realized later that the uneasy feeling I had inside me was just around the time the fire started on the stove. I believe that feeling was caused by Baba, who was instructing me to go home. If we had headed straight home, we would probably have avoided the whole incident.
If you get a similar feeling inside you to do or not to do something, you might want to listen to it as it might be your Sadguru trying to alert you.
My Request
You, the reader, may also have stories of warning of impending danger or trouble. Please share them in the comments box below, and I will select some of them for inclusion in this blog, so that we can share these stories with all readers.
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2) If you do the same thing over and over again, you will get the same result.
Actions that are clearly bad, also known as vikarma, (inauspicious, forbidden action, prohibited by the scriptures, since it is detrimental and results in degradation of the jivatma, the individual self) leads to bad results, and clearly must not be repeated.
If we find ourselves behaving wrongly in certain circumstances, and this wrong behaviour causes us difficulties, we must learn to stop acting in that way.
As soon as you recognize such repeated negative behaviour in yourself, spend some time to contemplate upon it. Think about ways to avoid the situations that cause you to act in this way, and about how to disrupt and defeat the negative thought patterns.
|
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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