Whatever we may feel, think or do, Bhagavan is the guiding light present in the depths of our hearts. His selfless Love is the ultimate source to wash away our sins. He is the Mastermind always at rest and always at work, taking care of even the minute functions of the Universe. His Love is as vast as the sky and He silently bears the sufferings and pains taking care that nobody should know. All this... and yet when we arrive for His Darshan He gently and lovingly walks giving a beautiful smile like an innocent child as if He knows nothing. Indeed He is the greatest Actor. We are like the cubs of a lioness whose mother takes great pride in seeing her children grow and someday become great kings of the jungle. We must bloom in His Garden of Love.
Our Bhagavan is always giving and forgiving. He has His own endearing ways of approaching every person. In this Kali Age, there is so much of violence and unrest. Therefore Bhagavan performs His greatest Miracle - the miracle of Transformation. He sees the appropriate time and then brings a change in a person through His Infinite Love. But first, we must develop faith. It is like the foundation. If it is not strong enough, the entire structure will come down and swerve from the Divine Path. We must develop faith, not by seeing others but by following our own conscience. Love is like a telephone line connecting God and us. We must speak to God directly and not through others.
Once a man was standing in the middle of the road and was looking up at the sky. He kept on repeating, “Oh God,” with tearful eyes. Another person saw this man and he too looked up with curiosity. Then a third man, and a fourth man followed and soon there was a big line of men looking up at the sky. Perhaps they thought that the Lord was going to give him Darshan and they imagined the clouds slowly changing in the Form of Lord Shiva. When the last man approached then, he asked the previous person why he was looking up and what the curiosity was all about. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said that he did not know the reason. The question was passed on to each person and finally it reached the first man himself. When he was asked as to why he was looking up and whether he could see the Lord, he replied with eyes full of tears, “I have a terrible neck sprain.” The men, hearing this, were surprised and moved on with disappointment. The big queue soon disappeared. We must not have faith based on other people’s faith. It would only lead to disappointments. If that person loses faith, we also lose faith. We must experience God ourselves. For this God’s grace is essential. So the very fact that we believe in Bhagavan is because of His Grace. If there is an atheist, it simply means that his time to believe in God has not yet come. If you are made to believe in God by your relatives or parents, it is not because of them but because of God’s Grace only.
I would like to narrate an incident to show how transformation took place within our family. My parents in the beginning were not devotees of Bhagavan and my father apparently thought that Bhagavan was a fake. No matter, how much he saw or heard about Bhagavan, he refused to believe in Him. It seemed as though now our time had come. I had a sister who was six years older than I. She was physically handicapped. She couldn’t talk, move or do anything. My mother took care of her, feeling that she was a Divine child. One morning my father had to catch a bus and go to some other place. My mother was feeding my sister. For some reason, that morning, my sister was swallowing her food very fast and it surprised my mother because she usually gives trouble while eating. My father luckily missed the bus and came back. My sister looked at both parents and breathed her last. The ambulance was immediately called but it was of no use. When both of my parents came out of the hospital feeling sad, an old lady walked up to them and started smiling. My father got irritated and asked her the reason. She said that they were very lucky. This startled my parents. She explained that God had a separate list of parents to take care of such children and they were on the list. So they were fortunate. On hearing this, my parents felt a little better. At that time I was only three years old and did not understand what was happening. My mother could not bear this fact. She cried everyday thinking of her. Nobody could console her. In about one and a half years we were transferred to Korea and my mother felt all the more sad as it was very lonely and they did not know anybody there. She continued weeping, constantly thinking of my sister. My parents were told that there were Sai Bhajans conducted in somebody’s house. So they went there for a change to divert their minds. One night, Bhagavan came in my mother’s dream and showed my sister on His lap wearing the same dress, which my mother put on her on the day she had passed away. My sister was smiling and was completely normal and was saying that she was very happy. Bhagavan pointed to my sister and said, “See, she is very happy with Me. If you are feeling so sad and if you want her back, I will send her back to you.”
My mother refused, saying that since she was happy with Bhagavan, it was not necessary. From that day onward, my mother never shed a tear. Bhagavan, in His Infinite Love, had removed the suffering of my mother whom nobody could console even though my parents did not know or believe in Bhagavan.
In this way, my parents became His devotees and I landed up as a student of Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School for my own good. Faith is the most essential requirement for spiritual progress. Therefore we must develop that faith. Bhagavan has said many times, “Where there is faith there is love, where there is love there is God.” At times, God may put us to certain sufferings to test whether our faith is strong. When a small child is learning how to walk; it catches the mother’s hand but the mother suddenly leaves the child’s hand trying to make him walk on his own. The child may at times fall down and get hurt but the mother always encourages it to advance. Similarly, Bhagavan holds our hands as we climb the steps of spirituality. At times, He may put us to sufferings and test us in His own ways. He does it in order to teach certain lessons to us so that we may develop further.
We should never give scope for doubts for how can a loving mother leave her child all alone? The Divine Mother never leaves us but only encourages us. She feels pleased when perform some good deeds. For Her level, everything should be perfect. Whatever we do may not be even a fraction of Her perfection but still She shows immense joy in whatever small good we do and encourages us. Hence it is rightly said, “God is the easiest person to please.” This is His uniqueness.
His love and compassion for us is beyond comprehension. But He stretches it out only for one thing. And that is selfless love, which actually belongs to Him. At times we may feel that Bhagavan does not answer our prayers or He does not fulfil our wishes. When a small child asks His mother to buy an expensive toy, she sometimes refuses. But the child cannot get angry with His mother just for this simple reason. The mother gives what it really needs. Similarly God knows what is good for us. He knows what we really need. He already does many things for us whether we pray for them or not. He is continuously giving what we really need: that is His selfless Love. So we must never get agitated when we are put to sufferings. Our faith should only become stronger. The Golden Age is fast approaching us. Let us strength our faith and become worthy instruments in His Mission.
- P. Shivakumar
Alumnus, Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School
Prasanthi Nilayam
