The
Revelation -
Who I am
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I am the One
who has ordained ... -
My Reality
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I am always aware of the future and the past as well as
the present ... -
...why should I worry? -
What "Sai Baba" means -
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who I am
"There was no
one to know who I am till I created the world, at My pleasure, with one word.
Immediately earth and sky were formed, mountains rose up, rivers started
flowing, sun, moon and stars sprang out of nowhere to prove My existence. Came
all forms of life - plants, insects, beasts, birds and men. Various powers were
bestowed upon them under My orders. The first place was granted to man, and My
knowledge was placed in man's mind." -Baba
Sathyam Sivam Sundaram
Part IV
The Revelation
17 May 1968
(Sathya Sai Speaks VI, 210-213)
This is the last part of Sathya Sai Baba's discourse at the World
Conference of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations in Bombay, 17 May 1968.
It states plainly and directly that Sathya Sai Baba is an incarnation of God,
come to restore righteousness (dharma)
"Since at this place those who have devotion are gathered and people of all
nations have come, I cannot but tell you one fact. World conferences dedicated
to religion or spiritual problems have no doubt been held before; also,
conferences of followers of particular faiths. But these have been held only
after the demise of the founders and divine inspirers. This is the very first
time that a World Conference is held, of persons devoted, while the incarnation
is present before every one, with the body assumed for the purpose, bearing the
name that is chosen for it by Itself. I must tell you this fact, because
ninety-nine persons out of hundred among you do not know my Reality. You have
come here drawn by diverse needs, a taste for spiritual matters, eagerness to
develop the institutions to which you are attached, admiration or affection,
love or reverence or a spurt of enthusiasm to join others and share with others
your own exultation.
In truth, you cannot understand the nature of my Reality either today or even
after a thousand years of steady austerity or ardent inquiry even if all mankind
joins in that effort. But, in a short time, you will become cognizant of the
bliss showered by the divine Principle, which has taken upon itself this sacred
body and this sacred name. Your good fortune which will provide you this chance
is greater than what was available for anchorites, monks, sages, saints and even
personalities embodying facets of divine Glory!
Since I move about with you, eat like you, and talk with you, you are deluded
into the belief that this is but an instance of common humanity. Be warned
against this mistake. I am also deluding you by my singing with you, talking
with you, and engaging myself in activities with you. But, [at] any moment, my
Divinity may be revealed to you; you have to be ready, prepared for that moment.
Since Divinity is enveloped by humanness you must endeavor to overcome the maya
(delusion) that hides it from your eyes.
This is a human form in which every divine entity, every divine principle, that
is to say, all the names and forms ascribed by man to God, are manifest. ... Do
not allow doubt to distract you; if you only install, in the altar of your
heart, steady faith in my Divinity, you can win a vision of my Reality. Instead,
if you swing like the pendulum of a clock, one moment devotion, another moment
disbelief, you can never succeed in comprehending the truth and win that bliss.
You are very fortunate that you have a chance to experience the bliss of the
vision of the Sarvadaivathwa swaroopam (the form that is all forms of the Gods)
now, in this life itself.
Let me draw your attention to another fact. On previous occasions when God
incarnated on earth, the bliss of recognizing Him in the incarnation was
vouchsafed only after the physical embodiment had left the world, in spite of
plenty of evidence of his grace. And the loyalty and devotion they commanded
from men arose through fear and awe at their superhuman powers and skills or at
their imperial and penal authority. But ponder a moment on this Sathya Sai
Manifestation; in this age of rampant materialism, aggressive disbelief and
irreverence, what is it that brings to it the adoration of millions from all
over the world? You will be convinced that the basic reason for this is the
supra-worldly Divinity in human form.
Again how fortunate you are that you can witness all the countries of the world
paying homage to India (Bharatha); you can hear adoration of Sathya Sai's name
reverberating throughout the world, even while this body is existing --not at
some future date but when it is with you, before you. And again, you can witness
very soon the restoration of the Ancient and Eternal Religion (Sanathana Dharma)
to its genuine and natural status, the righteousness (dharma) laid down in the
Vedas for the good of all the peoples of the world. The revival of vedic dharma
is the Sai sankalpa (the resolve that Sai has) not only drawing people toward
me, attracting them by the manifestation of my shakti (power) and samarthya
(capacity). This is not a bhramathathwam (phenomenon of delusion). This
phenomenon will sustain truth, it will uproot untruth, and in that victory make
all of you exult in ecstasy. This is the Sai sankalpa (will).
Some persons, even those who have reached a certain stage of leadership and
authority, have started exchanging the Vedic formulae and the principles of
Indian (Bharathiya) culture for lucre, selling them, in fact; and westerners too
are inclined to purchase them! These truths and discoveries are not merchandise
to be sold and bought. Therefore, I am going to western countries soon, in order
to apprise them of their real worth and put a stop to this bargaining. Already,
the authorities of universities in the United States of America and the leaders
of the students of those universities have written that they are eager to
welcome me and they have drawn up programs for me. It was only yesterday that
passports for my visit to Africa have been brought, praying that I may visit
those countries soon; I am proceeding to Africa before the month of June.
So utilize the chance of association with me as much as possible, and endeavor
as quickly and as best as you can to follow the directions that I have been
giving. Obeying my instructions is enough; it will benefit you more than the
most rigorous asceticism. Practice sathya, dharma, santhi and prema, which are
dear to me; resolve to keep those ideals before you ever, in all your thoughts,
words and deeds. That can confer on you the summum bonum of mergence in the
supreme substance of Divinity." - Sai Baba
top
I am the One who has ordained ...
"Why does the sun rise and set everyday without delay or disruption? Why do the stars that light the sky to the delight of all eyes, hide their splendorous faces when the day dawns, and never even slyly peer to tell us where they are? Why does air always be around, giving us the breath of life? Why do these streams and rivers roar, murmur, gurgle and gossip over rock, pebble and sand, as they meander along towards the parent sea? How is it that the billions that constitute mankind, though they are caskets treasuring images of the same entity, remain distinct from each other in appearance, achievement, aspiration and attitude? This is the answer: Know that I am the One who has ordainedthat these be such and shall behave so." -Baba Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Part IV
The world is His Mansion
"...Perhaps, you thought I was an Andhra or a South Indian! The whole world is
My Mansion; it has many rooms, each State being just one room in that Mansion of
Mine. I came here to tell you this truth about Me. -Baba
Triloknath Hall Lucknow
30.4.1961 Sathyam Sivam Sundaram
My Reality
In truth, you
cannot understand
the nature of my Reality either today
or even after a thousand years of steady
austerity or ardent inquiry even if
all mankind joins in that effort.-Baba
Sathyam Sivam Sundaram
I am always aware of the future and the past as well as the present ...
"Your worldly intelligence cannot fathom the ways of God. He cannot be recognized by mere cleverness of intelligence. You may benefit from God, but you cannot explain him. Your explanations are merely guesses, attempts to cloak your ignorance in pompous expressions. Bring something into your daily practice as evidence of your having known the secret of the higher life from me. Show that you have greater brotherliness. Speak with more sweetness and self-control. Bear defeat as well as victory with calm resignation, I am always aware of the future and the past as well as the present of every one of you, so I am not so moved by mercy. Since I know the past, the background, the reaction is different. It is your consequence of evil deliberately done in the previous birth, so I allow your suffering to continue, often modified by some little compensation. I do not cause either joy or grief. You are the designer of both these chains that bind you. I am the embodiment of bliss (Anandaswarupa). Come, take bliss (ananda) from me, dwell on that bliss, and be full of peace (shanti)." -Baba
...why should I worry?
"Not even the biggest
scientist can understand me by means of his laboratory knowledge. I am always
full of bliss. Whatever may happen, nothing can come in the way of my smile.
That is why I am able to impart joy to you and make your burden lighter. I never
exult when I am extolled, nor shrink when I am reviled. Few have realized my
purpose and significance, but I am not worried. When things that are not in me
are attributed to me, why should I worry? When things that are in me are
mentioned, why should I exult? For me it is always, "Yes, yes, yes." If you give
all and surrender to the Lord, he will guard and guide you. The Lord has come
for just this task. He is declaring that he will do so, and that it is the very
task that has brought him here. I know the agitations of your heart and its
aspirations, but you do not know my heart. I react to the pain that you undergo
and to the joy that you feel, for I am in your heart. I am the dweller in the
temple of every heart. Do not lose contact and company, for it is only when the
coal is in contact with the live embers that it can also become live ember."
-Baba 23 November 1968
Swami talks
about God, the religion of Love, and his Avathar-hood.
He explains why he materializes rings, etc., and gives them to people,
and he explains what "Sai Baba" means.
God is inscrutable. He cannot be realized in the outer objective world; He is in the very heart of every being. Gemstones have to be sought deep underground; they do not float in mid air. Seek God in the depths of your self, not in tantalizing, kaleidoscopic nature. The body is granted to you for this high purpose; but, you are now misusing it, like the person who cooked his daily food in the gem-studded gold vase that came into his hands as an heirloom.
Man extols God as omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, but, he ignores his Presence in himself! Of course, many venture to describe the attributes of God and proclaim Him to be such and such; but, these are but their own guesses and the reflections of their own predilections and preferences.
Who can affirm that God is this or thus? Who can affirm that God is not of this form or with this attribute? Each one can acquire from the vast expanse of the ocean only as much as can be contained in the vessel he carries to its shore. From that quantity, they can grasp but little of that immensity.
Each religion defines God within the limits it demarcates and then claims to have grasped Him. Like the seven blind men who spoke of the elephant as a pillar, a fan, a rope or a wall, because they contacted but a part and could not comprehend the entire animal, so too, religions speak of a part and assert that its vision is full and total.
Each religion forgets that God is all forms and all names, all attributes and all assertions. The religion of humanity is the sum and substance of all these partial faiths; for there is only one religion and that is the religion of Love. The various limbs of the elephant that seemed separate and distinct to the eye-less seekers of its truth were all fostered and activated by one single stream of blood; the various religions and faiths that feel separate and distinct are all fostered by a single stream of love.
The optical sense cannot visualize the truth. It gives only false and fogged information. For example, there are many who observe my actions and start declaring that my nature is such and such. They are unable to gauge the sanctity, the majesty, and the eternal reality that is me. The power of Sai is limitless; It manifests for ever. All forms of 'power' are resident in this Sai palm.
But those who profess to have understood me, the scholars, the yogis, the pundits, the jnanis, all of them are aware only of the least important, the casual external manifestation of an infinitesimal part of that power, namely, the "miracles"! They have not desired to contact the source of all power and all wisdom that is available here at Brindavan. They are satisfied when they secure a chance to exhibit their book-learning and parade their scholarship in vedic lore, not realizing that the person from whom the Vedas emanated is in the midst, for their sake. They even ask, in their pride, for a few more chances!
This has been the case in all ages. People may be very near (physically) to the Avathar, but they live out their lives unaware of their fortune; they exaggerate the role of miracles, which are as trivial, when compared to my glory and majesty, as a mosquito is in size and strength to the elephant upon which it squats. Therefore, when you speak about these 'miracles,' I laugh within myself out of pity that you allow yourself so easily to lose the precious awareness of my reality.
My power is immeasurable; My truth is inexplicable, unfathomable. I am announcing this about me, for the need has arisen. But what I am doing now is only the gift of a 'visiting card!' Let me tell you that emphatic declarations of the truth by Avathars were made so clearly and so unmistakably only by Krishna. In spite of the declaration, you will notice in the career of the same Krishna that he underwent defeat in his efforts and endeavors, on a few occasions; you must also note that those defeats too were part of the drama that he had planned and that he himself directed. For example, when many kings pleaded with him to avert the war with the Kauravas, he confessed that his mission to the Kaurava Court for ensuring peace had 'failed'! But, he had not willed that it should succeed! He had decided that war would be waged! His mission was intended to publish the greed and iniquity of the Kauravas and to condemn them before the whole world.
Now, I must tell you that, during this Sai Avathar, there is no place for even such 'drama' with scenes of failures and defeats! What I will, must take place; what I plan must succeed. I am Truth; and Truth has no need to hesitate, or fear, or bend.
'Willing' is superfluous for me. For my grace is ever available to devotees who have steady love and faith. Since I move freely among them, talking and singing, even intellectuals are unable to grasp my truth, my power, my glory, or my real task as Avathar. I can solve any problem however knotty. I am beyond the reach of the most intensive enquiry and the most meticulous measurement. Only those who have recognized my love and experienced my love can assert that they have glimpsed my reality. For the Path of Love is the royal road that leads mankind to Me.
Do not attempt to know me throught the external eyes. When you go to a temple and stand before the image of God, you pray with closed eyes, don't you? Why? Because you feel that the inner eye of wisdom alone can reveal Him to you. Therefore, do not crave from me trivial material objects; but, crave for me, and you will be rewarded. Not that you should not receive whatever objects I give as sign of grace out of the fullness of Love.
I shall tell you why I give these rings, talismans, rosaries etc. It is to signalize the bond between me and those to whom they are given. When calamity befalls them, the article comes to me in a flash and returns in a flash taking from me the remedial grace of protection. That Grace is available to all who call on me in any name or form, not merely to those who wear these gifts. Love is the bond that wins grace.
Consider the meaning of the name Sai Baba. Sa means 'Divine'; ai or ayi means 'mother', and Baba means 'father'. The name indicates the divine mother and father, just as Sambasiva, which also means the divine mother and father. Your physical parents exhibit Love with a dose of selfishness; but, this Sai "mother and father" showers affection or reprimands only to lead you toward victory in the struggle for self-realization.
For this Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting the entire mankind, as one family through the bond of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the Atmic reality of each being in order to reveal the Divine that is the basis on which the entire cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognize the common divine heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal, and rise into the Divine, which is his goal.
I am the embodiment of divine love; love is my instrument. There is no creature without love; the lowest loves itself, at least. And its self is God. So there are no atheists, though some might dislike Him or refuse Him, as malarial patients dislike sweets or diabetic patients refuse to have anything to do with sweets! Those who preen themselves as atheists will one day, when their illness is gone, relish God and revere Him.
I had to tell you so much about my truth, for I desire that you should contemplate on this and derive joy therefrom, so that you may be inspired to observe the disciplines laid down by me and progress toward the goal of self-realization, the realization of the Sai that shines in your hearts.
June 9, 1974
(Sathya Sai Speaks IX, 88-92)