The Secret to Greatness

Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam. For this Sunday, we have the transcript of a talk delivered a few days ago by a student of second year under graduate class, Mr. Dinesh Majeti, in the morning prayer session of Bhagavan's college in Prasanthi Nilayam.

Trust Him to hear you when you call,
To raise you when you fall,
Trust Him to bless you day by day,
And lead you all the way,
Trust Him to bear your every care,
Your joys and grief?s to share,
Trust Him your daily needs to know,
Because He loves you so.

How does a child know that a person is its mother? Yes, it?s due to faith. The entire human life is based on faith. No one can subsist for even a single moment without faith. Here is a small example. A man lays the foundation stone for a house today. If he does not have the confidence that by next year this house will be ready and that he would live till next year, will he seek to build the house at all? Another example. One gets up in the morning, takes a bag to go the market to buy vegetables. Without the belief that he will return home after buying vegetables from the market, will he leave the house at all? We give costly clothes to the washer man with the faith that he will return them washed and ironed. From the time of waking up till going to sleep, everything a man does, every moment is based on faith.

For a little chutney in your plate
A big thank you, aloud you state;
Yet, for gifts from God that come
You tend often to remain dumb.

You trust the barber with a knife
Held at your throat in real life;
You trust the driver of your car
As if he is a guiding star.

You trust the family cook a lot,
For what he prepares in the pot;
You trust the watchman whom you keep,
For your safety when you?re asleep.

Yet, God to trust, you find it hard,
Though He is your true Friend and Guard;
It?s time to change your attitude
And show God more gratitude.

But, unfortunately man today lacks faith in the existence of God. Swami Himself has said, ?The Divine can only be grasped through love, faith and sadhana surcharged with Universal Love. Reason is too feeble an instrument to measure it. Denial of the Divine cannot negate it. Logic cannot reveal it. All the tirades now are being made on the Divine by atheists who are opportunists. So your duty is to preserve equanimity. Do not waver.?

Not only should one have faith that God exists, but also have faith in God. One may ask, ?Why should I have faith? What benefits do I get by having it? ?The other day (August 22, 2007) when Swami lovingly called us for morning Darshan, He said, ?One with faith will face no failures in life. With total faith in God, you will be successful in every endeavour of yours.? Faith helps even in our academics. Once Swami said, ?Lack of self- confidence is the reason for students not doing well in studies. Students say, ?I study, but I do not remember my lessons.? One without self-confidence lacks memory power. With self-confidence comes memory power. Faith in yourself and faith in god ? this is the secret to greatness.?

Faith has immense power. It can even compel the Lord to manifest Himself before you and give you what you believe He will give you.? The power of faith is also illustrated in the life of Christ. Once a blind man approached Jesus and prayed, ?Lord, restore my sight.? Jesus asked him, ?Do you believe that I can restore your sight?? The blind man replied unhesitating, ?Yes, Lord?. ?If that is so then open your eyes and see.? The blind man opened his eyes and got his sight. Swami says, ?Likewise people pray to Swami for something or the other. Do you believe that I have the power to give you what you seek? My response is dependent on you faith.? When we feel that we are completely dependent on Sai, He looks after us and saves us from harm and injury.

But unfortunately, man today lacks faith. He rests his faith in all the trivial things in the world but finds it difficult to believe in God. He feels that God does not understand our problems and does not respond to us. Once, a man was climbing a snow-clad mountain. It became night. Suddenly, the man slipped and fell. He found himself hanging by the rope which he tied to his waist. It was cold. It was dark. It was freezing. The man became desperate and cried to God, ?God, please save me.? Then God replied, ?I?ll help you under one condition. Cut the rope.? The man was shocked. He could not believe in God. He did not pay heed to God. The next morning, the newspaper headline read, ?Man frozen to death hanging by a rope, just two feet above the ground.? That is why it is said, ?A man without faith is half-blind?. That is the problem with most of us. We do not listen to Him. We do not trust Him.

When our troubles increase, we feel that there is nobody by our side. Once a man dreamt that he was walking along a sea-shore. As he was walking, various incidents from his life were flashing in the sky. The man noticed two sets of footprints in the sand - one his and the other - God?s. He felt assured and very happy. At times he saw only one pair of footprints, heavily embedded in the sand, and this was during his difficult times. He felt totally disturbed at this, and cried, ?How could you abandon me Lord, when I needed you most? You promised me that You would be there beside me always. In my most trying times, you abandoned me.? Then, the Lord replied, ?Child. Where you see a single set of footprints, they are Mine. I was carrying you in My hands.?

Swami says, ?Never think: how is this going to end? What is going to happen? If you give into this temptation, you demonstrate that you do not trust Me. Do you want Me to take care of it ? yes or no? Then you must stop being anxious about it. I shall guide you only if you completely surrender to Me and, when I must lead you in a path quite different than the one you expect, I shall carry you in My arms.? The trouble with most of us is that we think we know what is best (or good) for us. We cannot accept the fact that there is someone (GOD) who knows much more than us and does what is best for us. Swami says, ?You pray to Me when in pain so that I?ll intervene, but in the way you desire it. You do not rely on me but want me to adjust to your request. Do not be like sick ones who ask the doctor to treat, all the time suggesting the treatment to him. Do not do that, but rather even in sad circumstances say, ?You very well know what is best for me.?? We feel that God does not understand us and gives us something quite contrary to the one which we ask for. We feel that God is cruel to us. We feel that, instead of diminishing our problems, He increases them.

I asked for strength so that I may achieve I was made weak so that I might humbly obey I asked for health To do great things I was given infirmity So that I might do better things I asked for riches So that I may be happy I got poverty So that I may be wise I asked for power So that I might feel the praise of men I received weakness So that I might feel the need of God. I got nothing I asked for But everything I hoped for Almost despair myself My unspoken prayers were answered I am among all men The most richly blessed.

Even Jesus said that when a son asks for bread, his father will not give him stone. When the earthy father himself does not do so, will not the Heavenly Father give you much more than you need (require/ ask for)? So the next time we encounter a problem let?s not say, ?O God! I have a big problem.? Instead let?s say, ?O problem! I have a big God!?

Where there is faith, there is love,
Where there is love, there is peace,
Where there is peace, there is truth,
Where there is truth, there is bliss,
Where there is bliss, there is GOD.

Faith is faithful. Faith knows no fear, no friction, no frustration, no failure. Once Swami wrote in a letter to his students, ? Be like a star that never wavers from the crescent but is fixed in steady faith. When the sun is above your head , there will be no shadows. Similarly, when faith is steady in your heart, it should not cast no shadow of doubt.? Swami also said, ?Do not lose faith by seeing people who go astray. It is like judging rain water by seeing the water in the stagnant pond.? The Lord of the Universe has come down in human form and says, ?Why fear when I am here??and we do not listen to Him. If we love Him, then we should follow what He says. So let us try to strengthen our faith in God. When someone asked George Bernard Shaw, ?How to change the world?? He replied,? If you want to change the world, change yourself first.?

Let us not walk behind Him (Swami) because we might not be able to catch up with Him. Let us not walk ahead of Him because He is not obliged to follow us. Let us walk with Him, holding His hand as a friend.

Somebody loves you more than you know,
Someone goes with you wherever you go,
Someone really and truly cares,
And lovingly listens to all our prayers.
Don?t doubt for a moment that this is not true,
For Sai loves His children and cares for them too,
And His treasures are yours to share,
If you love Him truly and show Him that you care.

Jai Sai Ram.

Source: Sai Inspire: "Sunday Special" 22. September 2007