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| A rare photo during the Convocation Procession on November 22, 2008 |
It was a day I vividly remember – the Convocation day in the year 2008. The Sai Kulwant Hall was like a cistern, holding the sea of humanity within itself with the most beautiful orange pearl dancing along in circular fashion, a spectacle rendering those gods in the highest heavens jealous of us common folk down on earth.
The atmosphere in the hall was electric and everyone was waiting with bated breath to grasp the pearls of wisdom about to fall and cherish them as guidelines for the rest of their lives. I was however in pole position to grab them as we students were seated closest to Him. The discourse began and soon I was found battling with the forces of nature which were determined to push me down the abyss of darkness and sloth, and deprive me of the nectar of wisdom coming my way. But the indomitable human spirit triumphed and I stayed awake.
This effort was rewarded as I stood witness to a prophecy. Swami’s words thundered across the hall, “Soon the whole world will come together and peace will reign”. As soon as these golden words were uttered, a classmate of mine looked at me and said, “You see, Swami’s words are mysterious. Who knows what soon, according to Him, is? From His point of view it can be 4 years, 40 years or even 400 years!” I smiled within myself and turned my gaze towards the Orange Sun in front of me, shining in all its glory and grandeur. He sees through us for what we are but never beyond us for we are precious to Him. Hence, He loses no opportunity to reveal His Divinity and correct our thinking.
The whole universe is subsumed in Him and even the footstep of an ant is like thunder to Him! Therefore even a stray thought swimming across this lake of our mind doesn’t go unnoticed.
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| Sri Sathya Sai delivering the Benedictory Address during the Convocation in 2008 |
After that declaration was made, there was a pause, meant to tease our small minds. Sitting at a distance I could swear I saw a twinkle in His eyes and He continued, “Within 28 years, the whole world will become one and all countries like the USA, Japan, Germany, Pakistan and India will come together and be one”. Silence followed. Absolute silence. My whole being was numb. Momentarily my mind shutdown and my heart opened. I suddenly started feeling the immensity of the situation. I was in the presence of the Ocean of Love, whose immensity couldn’t be gauged by my mind but whose sweetness could be experienced by sipping from the container of the heart. I was in the presence of the all-knowing One, the One who makes this universe go round but has time to pause and lift us to a higher pedestal of understanding. I realised that I was in the presence of the fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom but one who exhibits a demeanour radiating humility and childlike innocence. I was sitting there gazing into the eyes that contained the mysteries of the universe and trying to sip from that heart that bears the pain of sacrifice.
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| The Graduands sitting before the Revered Founder Chancellor |
Yes, the pain of sacrifice. The Ruler of the highest heavens has chosen to rid Himself of heavenly royalty and put on the ravaged and transient garb of humans, come down to awaken us from a deep slumber lasting a million lifetimes. He has come down to show us what we have been seeking since the beginning of time lies hidden as the reservoir of love in the deepest crevices of our heart. He has come to teach the steps of the dance that shall liberate our souls from the firm clutches of illusion and the quicksand of desire, for our situation is similar to a fly caught in a Venus fly trap. Only He knows the difficulty of the task. But disregarding the ridicule and pain associated with the task, He has decided to enter the slush of human existence to unhinge our souls; to get dirty in order to clean us. Imagine trying to rid an addict of his addictions; a mankind addicted to lust, power, hatred and greed for centuries. Imagine the futility in separating a swine from the slush and trying to place it in an oasis! And the origin of this impulse to come down onto Earth? Pure love. Oh, the pain of sacrifice!
As I sat thus, caught in the chain of my own thoughts, I felt a heavy burden fall on me. Not the crashing of the roof or hailstones from the sky, not even the burden borne by Atlas, but a far heavier one. The burden of ‘Responsibility’. I sat there realizing that the once blank paper of my life was bearing the stamp of His name, it would never be the same again. I sat there reminiscing the numerous occasions He had called us ‘His property’ and that all His hopes were pinned on His students, the harbingers of change and the messengers of love. Now, you may ask why only this discourse shook the roots of my inert existence and not the previous ones wherein He made His expectations known. The answer lies in the occasion itself. He was addressing the messengers of love on the Convocation Day, subtly putting forward the task cut out for them and the difficulties that lay ahead. I saw that one day I too will be passing out of the hallowed precincts of the temple of learning and brave the storms that lay waiting for me. That occasion was a rude awakening that the process of heating the gold in the furnace was already underway; only that I was unaware of it due to the layers of dirt clinging to my mind, just like a tree clings to the earth.
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| Sri Sathya Sai Hostel, Prasanthi Nilayam |
Oh! How fast time flies. The five years over in five minutes. The time had come to flap these wings rendered strong over time under His watchful gaze. The ship was ready to brave the storm, for what use is the ship rusting in the docks when it was fashioned to brave the storms! As I stood by the steps of the Hostel on the 15th of April, it became clear to me. For the inward journey we must be like flutes, hollow and straight, surrendering to Him and filling our being with the song Divine; a tune that can only be heard in the depths of silence. The journey onward requires us to be like candles, radiating the warmth of His love and acting as beacons of hope in this dark night, ready to usher the dawn of the Sun – the Golden Age.
As I sat reminiscing those golden days and penning down these feelings arising from my heart, like a cup of wine that runneth over, I recollected that Convocation Day of 2008. I’m now a few months away from my Convocation and those words still ring across my mind. He has watered this plant with the water of His love, hoping that one day it becomes a sturdy tree which grants shade to weary travellers and fruit to hungry minds. He sacrificed His throne for us only to place a crown on our heads.
Oh, the heavy burden of responsibility! Oh Life! Let me not let His sacrifice go in vain.
- NSP Chakravarthy
Student (2012-2014), Department of Chemistry
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Prasanthi Nilayam
Source: Sai Nandana 2015 (90th Birthday Offering)
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