SPECIAL MUSINGS CONCERNING SWAMI’S
HEALTH
REFLECTIONS ON RAMA NAVAMI 2011
By Prof. G. Venkataraman
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The Lord incarnated as Sri Rama
thousands of years ago and along
with His brother Lakshmana
eliminated evil forces and
established righteousness
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Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti
Nilayam. On April 12 was Rama Navami, the
day celebrated as marking the advent of the
Lord as Sri Rama, way back in the Treta
Yuga. At the time the Lord took birth as
Rama, the eldest son of Emperor Dasaratha,
all celestial beings, starting with Brahma
the Creator down to all the devas knew about
the event, because it was taking place at
their specific request, as has been recorded
in the Ramayana.
Yet, barring a handful of rishis of
exceptional merit like Sage Vasishta, for
example, few on earth knew about the
incarnation of the Lord. Indeed, it was only
from Lord Sri Krishna’s famous declaration
on the battlefield in Kurukshetra that
humanity became aware that from time to
time, the Lord does descend on earth for the
larger benefit of humankind. And in this the
Kali Yuga, considered to be the age when
adherence to Dharma is most
difficult, the Lord has taken birth in human
form as Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Swami
to all of us, to guide us through the moral
dilemmas we face.
As on
Ugadi day that came exactly a week ago
(April 4), on Rama Navami day too we missed
Swami’s physical presence here in the
Mandir; and everyone knows why. It just
couldn’t get sadder. Those of you who saw
the small video clip we posted recently
showing a portion of Swami’s Discourse
delivered on Gurupoornima Day in 2003, might
have noted that Swami spoke of illnesses and
injuries that come to His body in a natural
course as compared to situations where He
deliberately takes on the suffering someone
else was destined to go through. Thus,
occasionally Swami has had spells of cold
and cough. And, due to indisposition or
tiredness or both, He has, of late not
appeared for Darshan during some
sessions. That said, no one was prepared for
what we are witnessing now.
At the same time, it is worth recalling a
crucial remark that Swami made during the
Discourse just referred to. Almost in
passing, Swami said that for Him, the prayer
of devotees was the best medicine. And how
much we have seen of it during the last few
days, indeed all over the world!
Swami speaks about His health on Guru
Poornima 2003 with translation in Hindi
I would also, if I may, like to draw
attention to one thing that Swami used to
say in the past but hardly does these days,
which is the following:
I give you what you want so that you
would ask for what I have come to give.
That was the standard one-liner that Swami
often used in the past. But here is a longer
quote from a Discourse given in 1963, which
adds depth to the above snappy remark. Swami
says:
You have come, most of you, to
get from Me tinsel and trash,
petty little cures and
promotions, joys and comforts;
very few of you desire to get
from Me the thing I have come to
give, viz., Liberation itself.
Even among these few, those who
stick to the path of sadhana and
succeed are just a handful.
You ask from Me a thousand
things of the world, but rarely
do you ask for "Me". That is why
I seldom address you as
bhakthas (devotees); I
usually address you as
Divyaathma swaruupulaara
(embodiments of the Divine), for
this Divyathwam
(Divinity) is your real
swaruupa (nature). Although
you do not know it, it is a
fact. Thus it is that I can
address you so with confidence.
I can even call you
Divya-divya swaruupulaara.
However, as for bhakthi,
it is a quality that will make
you desire the Lord and nothing
else. I find that you cannot lay
claim to it.
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Those are pretty strong words, but back
then once in a while Swami did speak His
mind out, shall I say. Let us now spend
a minute or two, reflecting on Swami’s
remarks. The following points then stand
out:
1. We often ask for many things
from Bhagawan and, as the Loving
Mother, He also gives, always,
with much love and a big broad
smile as well. We are happy and
Swami also is happy.
2. However, having got what we
wanted, we do not seriously ask
of ourselves what would Swami
really like from us. It is not
as if people are insensitive.
That is not so, but if you
notice, I used the word
seriously. There is a reason for
it which, hopefully, would
become clear.
3. It is common to say, “Swami,
I love You,” or “Swami, we love
You,” as the case may be. And
invariably, Swami replies:
“Swami also loves you.” But when
we use the word ‘love’, do we
mean the same thing that Swami
means? |
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Bhagawan speaking at the
Hill View Stadium during one
of the Birthday functions
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Let me now pick up from the above points
and begin by recalling a birthday scene
about fifteen years ago. Back them,
birthday functions used to be invariably
held in the Hill View Stadium, and
during the course of His Discourse, I
heard Swami saying, “I see
before Me a vast crowd. But where are
the devotees? I cannot see a single one
anywhere!” Honestly, when I
heard that, I was completely knocked
out. I told myself, “Come on Swami, You
can’t be serious! Here there are close
to two hundred thousand people packed in
this Stadium as the Sun above has begun
beating down strongly upon us, and You
are asking, ‘Where are the devotees?’”!
It took me years to read between the
lines and grasp, at least at the
periphery, the profound Message Swami
was giving us.
Basically, there are four dots here that
need to be connected, they being: 1)
Swami, 2) the individual, 3) Pure Love,
and 4) Bhakti or real devotion.
I have heard people say, “Oh, I have
been a devotee for forty years whereas
that other fellow there came just two
years ago. And yet, look at the airs he
is putting on!” This is actually a very
common feeling and I am not mentioning
it in any pejorative way. I am
merely trying to draw attention to the
fact that when we use the words devotee,
Bhakti and love, we do so in a
sense that is very different from what
Swami means. How do I know?
Well, for a starter, go to the quote I
offered earlier and, to amplify that,
let me now recall what Swami has said
about devotion/Bhakti and love.
Real Bhakti, according
to Swami is unfettered love for God
without any qualifications whatsoever.
Everyone would readily agree with that
definition, but wait; there is some fine
print to this, not made up by me but
stated first by Lord Krishna, and most
emphatically reiterated by Swami on many
occasions, especially in a series of
about thirty and odd Discourses that He
gave on the Gita in 1984. Let us go back
to the love for God business. For most
of us, Swami is the undisputed God; no
argument about that. But when we say
Swami, do we mean just the form of Swami
or something more? And that precisely is
where the fine print enters the picture.
In His Discourses delivered in 1984,
Swami makes it quite clear that the form
of the Avatar is unquestionably a
starting point. That is to say, loving
and adoring the physical form of Swami,
complete with His unmatchable and
unbelievable smile HAS to be the
starting point; that of course is pretty
easy. However, and this is
extremely important, the physical form
of Swami is just the starting point, and
one HAS to go beyond. What does
that mean? Well, has not Swami said
times without number, “I am in you, with
you, above you, below you, in front of
you, behind you?” That is far from a
rhetorical remark, reflecting as it does
a profound truth which Swami often
captures with the observation, “There is
only God and nothing except God.” This
is the point we invariably tend to miss
and therefore we had better pay careful
attention to it.
What it all adds up to is that
if we say Swami is God, and that of
course we all firmly believe, then we
must also take seriously Swami’s
emphatic declaration that He is in all
and in everything, from the smallest of
the small to the largest of the large.
Now comes the real essence of
it all. If God is in all, clearly we
have to be careful in dealing with other
people, all living beings and indeed
even so-called inanimate entities. In
particular, we cannot give ourselves the
license to be selective, show a lot of
love to the form of Swami and at the
same time allow ourselves to be rough
and rude to some, especially those whom
we regard as ‘inferior’ or whom we don’t
like. Cautioning us against such
selective attitude and prejudice, Swami
repeatedly calls attention to Krishna’s
famous admonition, “Adveshta sarava
bhoothanam,” which means, don’t
hate any being. It is sobering to recall
at this point that we invariably end
bhajans by saying, “Samastha lokha
sukhino bhavantu.” What does that
mean? It means, “May all beings in all
the worlds created by God be happy.” So,
how can we chant such a thing and be
angry with, shout at or abuse fellow
human beings? Not allowed, I am afraid.
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Jesus puts it nicely; He says,
“How can you say you love God whom you
have not seen, when you cannot love your
brother whom you have seen?”
Swami says it another way, He says, “If
you love this person, that person and so
on, they all would love you. But when
you love all without distinction, then
God would love you.” Often times, when I
point this out people say to me, “But
listen, Swami told me that He loves me.
Surely, He cannot be wrong, can He?” Of
course not; but then there is also such
a thing as Divine Grace; that does not
come easy.
In the Gita, Lord Krishna says that in
whatever way people approach Him, in
that same way He would respond. Swami
states that more crisply by saying that
He holds a mirror to those who come to
Him. If we restrict our love to
His Form alone, no matter how abundant
that might be, He would return that love
in equal measure. But His Grace, which
also is something that He alone can
confer, would come to us only when we
Love Him as the Omnipresent God.
Yes, love for the Avatar also
starts the same way as our love for
those to whom we have bodily
attachments. However, if our love for
God is maintained at that level, it
would be mere attachment. Clearly, our
Love for God must be far more expansive.
It is precisely to drive home that point
that Lord Krishna revealed His Cosmic
Form to Arjuna. In this Avatar, Swami
has left that expansion of vision and
love to us as an exercise although, out
of infinite compassion, He has
discoursed on it any number of times.
Just thumb through Sathya Sai Speaks,
for example, and you would know what I
am talking about.
I am well aware that many people would
brush aside all that I have said as high
philosophy. It actually is not, and all
I was doing was to reiterate what Swami
has said to us on past occasions. At the
same time, I would be failing in
my duty if I did not point out that if
there is real, unselfish love for Swami
without expectations of any kind
whatsoever, God would be most pleased
and abundantly reward that love.
Indeed, that is precisely what
Tukaram’s life portrays. He once prayed,
“Oh Krishna, this Tuka is a fool. How
can he understand such high flown things
as God being Infinite?” But such was the
purity and intensity of Tuka’s devotion
that his life was actually redeemed. So,
for truly sincere people who cannot take
in heavy stuff but are ready to give
everything for God, there IS
a special plan. It is keeping this in
mind that Swami said in the video clip
we recently aired, “Devotees’ prayer is
Swami’s medicine!”
Recall what Krishna said, “I approach
you in exactly the same way you approach
me.” If we want it simple but keep it
really pure, then God is ready to accept
that also. Our Swami is infinitely
compassionate, and is quite willing to
let each of us have our own separate
plan for attaining Him. Coming to think
of it, what better deal can we get?
Thanks you for your time and Jai Sai
Ram.
source: radiosai.org
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