Transcripción completa de la entrevista de Bhagavan a Shri.R. K.Karanjia - septiembre 1976.
A continuación se presenta la transcripción completa de la entrevista más maravillosa dada por Bhagavan a la redactora principal de la revista Blitz de Noticias en septiembre de 1976, a
Sri RK Karanjia. Se trata de una entrevista relevante para todos los tiempos y especialmente ahora en estos tiempos en que Bhagavan no esta físicamente con nosotros.
RK Karanjia: En primer lugar, Swamiji, nos gustaría saber algo acerca de su encarnación triple - pasado, presente y futuro - es decir, de Shirdi Sai Baba ,Sathya Sai Baba y el Prema Sai Baba por venir, de acuerdo a sus la profecía.
Baba: En primer lugar, debe comprender la completa unidad de las tres encarnaciones en los tiempos contemporáneos, con los del pasado como Rama y Krishna. Esta es una tarea difícil.
Cuando la gente no puede entender el presente, ¿cómo pueden comprender el pasado? Cada encarnación es total y completa en relación con el tiempo, el medio ambiente y la tarea. No hay distinción entre las diversas apariciones de Dios como Rama, Krishna o Sai.
Rama llegó a alimentar las raíces de la verdad y la justicia, Krishna lo siguió para fomentar la planta de paz y amor. Ahora bien, estos principios sagrados están en peligro de destrucción total a causa de la debilidad humana ante el embate de las fuerzas del mal. Ellos son la superación de lo bueno, lo espiritual y lo divino en el hombre. Es por ello es que el presente Avathar, ha venido investido con la totalidad de la energía cósmica, para salvar la rectitud (dharma) del anti-dharma.
Q: Al del Avatar actual, que quiere decir Sai Baba?
Baba: Sí, Yo encarno de edad en edad, y tiempo en tiempo, para salvar el dharma del anti-dharma. Siempre que las luchas, la discordia y la desarmonía agobian al mundo, Dios encarna en forma humana para mostrarle a la humanidad el camino hacia el amor, la armonía y la paz.
Q: Eso es comprensible. Pero los escépticos se preguntan por qué Dios debería asumir una forma humana?
Baba: Debido a que es la única manera de encarnar el Dios en el hombre. El Avatar toma la forma humana y se comporta de una forma humana, para que la humanidad puede sentir parentesco con la divinidad. Al mismo tiempo que lo eleva a alturas piadosas para que la humanidad puede aspirar la unidad con Dios. La realización del Dios que mora en nosotros, como el motivador de la vida, es la tarea para la que los Avatares vienen en forma humana.
Avatares anteriores como Rama y Krishna tuvieron que destruir unos pocos individuos, que podrían ser identificados como enemigos, de la manera piadosa de vida y del camino dhármica.
Hoy, sin embargo, la maldad ha penetrado tanto, que la humanidad se encuentra cercana a la destrucción. Por lo tanto, el Avathar presente, ha venido armado con la plenitud de los poderes del Dios sin forma, para corregir a la humanidad, elevar la conciencia humana, y poner a la gente en el camino correcto de la verdad, la justicia, la paz y el amor a la divinidad.
Q: ¿Por qué esta tarea se divide en tres encarnaciones separadas de Babas Shirdi, Sathya y Prema?
Baba: Ellos no están separados. Ya he mencionado la completa unidad de los tres en el objetivo final de la misión. Te daré un ejemplo. Tomar un kilo de gur (una sustancia dulce). La totalidad de su sabor es dulce. A continuación se rompen en pequeños trozos. Cada uno de ellos es dulce. Finalmente lo dividimos en pequeños granos. Y encontramos la misma dulzura en ellos. Así que la diferencia es de cantidad y cualidad.
Es lo mismo con los Avatares. Sus tareas y competencias necesarias pueden variar de acuerdo a el tiempo, la situación y el medio ambiente al que pertenecen, pero derivan de un mismo swarup dharma o cuerpo divino.
Tomemos el ejemplo de la fruta. Se inicia con la semilla que crece en el árbol y de él viene la fruta. El trabajo puede ser comparado con la semilla, el culto al árbol y la sabiduría de la fruta.
El Avatar anterior, Shirdi Baba, sentó las bases para la integración secular y dio a la humanidad el mensaje [que] el deber es el trabajo. La misión del Avathar, presente es hacer que todos se den cuenta de que el mismo Dios o divinidad reside en cada uno. Pero la gente debe respetar, el amor y ayudarse unos a otros, sin distinción de color o credo. Por lo tanto todo el trabajo puede convertirse en una forma de adoración. Por último, Prema Sai, el Avatar tercero, promocionara la noticias evangélica que Dios no sólo residen en todo el mundo, sino que todo el mundo es Dios. Ese será el final de la sabiduría que permita a cada hombre y mujer, ir a Dios. Los tres Avatares llevan el mensaje triple de trabajo, adoración y sabiduría.
Q: ¿Así que cual es la santa misión y propósito divino de la encarnación triple?
Baba: Unir a toda la humanidad en una casta o familia, establecimiento en la unidad - es decir, la realización átmica - en cada hombre o mujer, que es la base sobre la que descansa el diseño cósmico. Una vez que esto se realiza, la herencia divina común que une al hombre con el hombre, a Dios, se hará evidente y el amor prevalecerá como la luz de guía del universo.
En primer lugar, el hombre tiene que convertirse en hombre en la plenitud de su potencial integrado. La humanidad presente como tal no existe en el mundo. No hay síntesis entre pensamiento, palabra y obra. El hombre de hoy piensa una cosa, dice algo diferente, y actúa más bien al contrario.
Entonces lo que tenemos es el hombre individual, confundido, desconcertado y bombardeados con pensamientos contradictorios. Lo que no veo es la humanidad en él, motivado por los buenos pensamientos, buenas palabras y buenas acciones. Tenemos que hacerle comprender que Dios esta dentro de él para desarrollar una unidad de pensamiento, palabra y obra.
Una vez que esta primera lección se enseñe en la familia, la escuela, la universidad, la sociedad, las ciudades, los estados, y las naciones del mundo, entonces el hombre será consciente del hecho de que toda la humanidad pertenece a una familia.
Así como Cristo predicó, todos son uno, todos son iguales . La cuestión fundamental es la unidad: una casta, una clase, un credo de la humanidad: y esto sólo puede lograrse mediante la entrega de uno mismo ,o ego puro, amor incondicional, universal y devoción.
El amor es la base, el denominador común, y la devoción la chispa divina, la cimentación, factor de unidad, la integración entre el hombre y el hombre, y el hombre y Dios.
Déjeme darle un ejemplo. (Baba extiende su pañuelo en el suelo entre nosotros). Aquí está un pedazo de tela. Como se ve, esta hecho por hilos. Tire de los hilos por separado y la tela se debilita. Póngalos juntos y es firme y fuerte. Es lo mismo con la humanidad. El amor que une , mil millones de hilos es una tela y la devoción los reúne con Dios. Yo, por lo tanto, encarno el amor y lo utilizo como instrumento para regenerar al hombre y crear la fraternidad de la humanidad con la ayuda de la devoción a Dios. Yo siempre digo: Comience el día con amor. Llenar el día con amor. Terminar el día con amor. Esta es la forma más rápida, el camino más seguro hacia Dios.
La vida es amor, disfrutarlo ;
La vida es un reto, enfrentalo ;
La vida es una canción, cantarla ;
La vida es un sueño, hazlo realidad;
La vida es un juego, juégalo.
Q: ¿Shirdi Baba realmente nació ocho años después de su muerte en 1918?
Baba: Sí, lo hizo. Este ha sido dicho y escrito por Kaka Dikshit, así como un número de devotos que estaban con Shirdi Baba.
Q: ¿Qué le hace estar tan seguro de que está encarnado Shirdi Baba ?
Baba: el conocimiento de mi propia experiencia auténtica, por supuesto. Ya que nadie sabía que Shirdi Baba está vivo hoy, no hay ninguna prueba, salvo mi propio conocimiento y experiencia. El hecho de que me anuncie como Shirdi Baba hace 40 años, cuando sólo tenía 10 años y cuando nadie en esta parte del Sur de India ,había conocido ni oído hablar de Shirdi Baba, demuestra este hecho.
Q: La situación actual, impulsado por las fuerzas del mal, nos lleva a la destrucción, como lo han analizado correctamente, parece inevitable una nueva guerra tipo Mahabharata (una épica sobre la batalla de Kurukshetra). ¿Significa esto que solo la salvación puede consumarse luego de una guerra destructiva?
Baba: el mal debe y deberá ser retirado antes de que una catástrofe se lleva a cabo. Habrá guerras y escaramuzas menores, por supuesto: estos no pueden ser evitado en el estado de cosas existentes.
La guerra del Mahabharata es una cuestión totalmente diferente. El Señor Krishna decretó y, de hecho, llevó a Arjuna a el campo de batalla para librar al mundo de los malos hombres y las fuerzas impías.
Hoy en día, como te dije, el mal está tan extendido, que la propia humanidad sería destruida en un holocausto nuclear en caso de una guerra mundial.
Es para evitar una catástrofe ,que el Avathar, ha llegado a elevar la conciencia humana, por encima del síndrome existente de la ira, el odio, la violencia y la guerra y salvar al mundo del desastre.
Esto sólo puede lograrse mediante el restablecimiento de la hermandad de la humanidad, lo dicen los Vedas, Shastras y todas las religiones con su evangelio de dharma ,para liberar a la raza humana de las cadenas del karma (el ciclo de nacimiento y muerte).
Yo siempre digo: Que las distintas religiones existentes, dejen que florezcan, que la gloria de Dios sean cantadas en todas las lenguas en una variedad de melodías. Que el ideal debe ser respetar las diferencias entre las religiones y reconocerlas como válidas en la medida en que no apaguen la llama de la unidad.
Q: Por lo que Baba ha dicho, parece que no hay mucha diferencia o dicotomía entre Dios y el hombre. Estoy en lo cierto?
Baba: Muy bien, Dios es el hombre y el hombre es Dios. Todos nosotros tenemos algo de Dios, la chispa divina dentro de nosotros. Todos los hombres son divinos como yo, pero con el espíritu encarnado en la carne y huesos humanos. La única diferencia es que ellos no son conscientes de esta divinidad. Han entrado en esta prisión kármica a través de los errores de muchas vidas.
He tomado esta forma mortal por mi propia y libre voluntad. Ellos están unidos al cuerpo, mientras que yo soy libre de esta esclavitud. La principal diferencia es que son empujados de aquí para allá por el deseo, pero yo no tengo ningún deseo.
Tomar arroz o el arroz a través de una ilustración. Cada grano de arroz está encerrado en una cáscara. Usted tiene que quitar la cáscara para obtener el grano. Ahora la cáscara y el arroz, ambos provienen de la misma semilla. El arroz es el equivalente de Dios en el hombre, mientras que la cáscara se puede comparar al deseo que reduce a Dios al hombre. Por lo tanto, mi fórmula es:
VIDA + DESEO = HOMBRE
VIDA - EL DESEO = DIOS
Q: ¿De qué manera puede una vida sin deseo, hacer dioses de los hombres?
Baba: La vida sin deseo, significa la realización del yo puro, genuino que es el Atma. Vinculado al deseo, se degenera . El Atma se convierte en ego. El camino de la auto-realización, es para autolimpiar este ego de egoísmos. Luego cada estado de conciencia, más allá de la mente o el intelecto, revela el verdadero ser que es Dios. La mente es como una tela que cubre y ahoga la conciencia, los hilos son los deseos. Si renunciamos a los deseos, los hilos se caen , dejando al descubierto nuestra verdadera naturaleza. Eso es lo que en Vedanta (épica de la antigua sabiduría y conocimiento) significa darse cuenta que se debe eliminar el ego de uno mismo.
Q: ¿Quiere decir que la mente del hombre como tal crea el bloqueo entre el hombre y Dios?
Baba: Sí. Hay que hacer una distinción entre la mente que es el ego, y el ser real que es la conciencia. Este último nos ayuda a cruzar las fronteras del ego-mente y tomar conciencia de uno mismo, como el testimonio de la verdad. Normalmente, el científico de la mente se ve fuera de lo que puede ser percibido por los sentidos existentes en el mundo de la mente y pregunta :
Baba: To unite all mankind into one caste or family in the establishment of the unity - that is, Atmic realization - in every man or woman, which is the basis on which cosmic design rests. Once this is realized, the common divine heritage that binds man to man to God will become apparent and love shall prevail as the guiding light of the universe.¿Qué es esto?
El científico de la conciencia, por el contrario, siempre se ve en el interior a lo que está más allá de los sentidos o el alcance de la mente , y pregunta : ¿Qué es eso?
Uno tiene, por lo tanto, tiene que ir más allá de la mente a la conciencia, para lograr la auto-realización. Para sacar el Atma infinita, universal, del ser encarnado, salir de la prisión endeble, finita , de la individualidad.
El deseo que pertenece a los sentidos, el cerebro, la mente, una vez que se libre de ella, te das cuenta de sí mismo, el Atma, la conciencia, la iluminación, y de ser uno con el poder cósmico.
La auto-realización es la realización de Dios. Así, el hombre llega a Dios.
Q: ¿Cuál es el significado del vibuthi (ceniza sagrada) y las baratijas que se materializan y dan a la gente? ¿Hay alguna necesidad de que un Dios-hombre demuestre esos milagros, que cualquier mago puede realizar?
Baba: Por lo que me preocupa, esto es una prueba de mi divinidad. No es de ninguna manera una exposición de la divinidad. Todos los espectáculos de magia, sabemos que se hacen para obtener ingresos. Estos son los trucos del oficio de los magos. Constituyen una trampa, la transferencia de un objeto desde un lugar a otro por un truco de la mano, que pasa desapercibido. No implican siddhi (oculta el poder) o el poderes milagrosos.
Lo que sí es absolutamente un acto distinto es la creación. No es ni magia, ni es el poder o siddhi. Por un lado, no busco retorno. Por otra parte, no engaño a la gente transfiriendo objetos, solo los creo . Una vez más, no lo hago por la necesidad de exponer mis poderes. Para mí esto es una especie de tarjeta para convencer a la gente de mi amor por ellos y asegurar su entrega a cambio. Puesto que el amor no tiene forma, yo materialización como prueba de mi amor. No es más que un símbolo.
Q: Todavía no entiendo por qué usted debe materializar anillos, pulseras, relojes y esa clase de baratijas.
Baba: La mayoría de la gente desea talismanes como símbolo de Mi protección. Así que se los proporciono. Para que cuando estén en problemas, agarren el aro, pulsera o reloj para recordarme y me llamen en su ayuda para que yo pueda acudir. Por otro lado, si les doy algo que no puede usar, es probable que se olviden de él.
Lo principal es que estas baratijas o talismanes, por el nombre que se les llame, le da a la gente una sensación de seguridad y protección que necesitan en momentos de dificultades o crisis y crean un enlace simbólico que cubre las grandes distancias entre ellos y yo. Cuando los devotos me necesita, estos objetos muestran el mensaje, como por radio y al instante, y voy a su rescate.
Q: Siento ser persistente, Swamiji, pero regalar un Omega o HMT, no es un acto de engaño a la empresa o la violación de su patente?
Baba: Yo te aseguro que no hay tal cosa. Sería engañar a la empresa o incumplir con la patente ,si se tratara de un caso de transferencia de un lugar a otro.
Pero no hay transferencia, estoy creando sin duda. Lo que yo quiero, al instante se materializa. No conozco ninguna empresa que se haya quejado de cualquier violación de patentes.
Q: ¿Qué pasa con el vibuthi materializado por usted? Nos gustaría conocer su importancia ya que sus críticos están tratando de desacreditarlo, produciendo replicas exactas de vibuthi por los magos.
Baba: Lo que se materializan es una manifestación de la divinidad, con un potente significado, así como el simbolismo. Es el símbolo de la naturaleza cósmica, inmortal, e infinita de todas las formas de Dios, Atma o el espíritu - es decir, lo que queda cuando todo lo mundano, transitorio y cambiante se ha quemado.
Yo he hablado de la necesidad imperiosa de una vida sin deseo. Después de que Shiva quemó al Dios del deseo, Kama, y se transformo en un montón de cenizas, se adornó con las cenizas, para brillar como el conquistador del deseo. Cuando Kama fue destruido, Prema reinó como la diosa del amor. Tal es el significado de la ceniza.
En primer lugar, es un símbolo del ciclo de vida-muerte , en lo que al final todo se reduce, a cenizas. "Pues polvo eres y al polvo has de volver". Cenizas o polvo es el estado final de las cosas. Que no puede someterse a cualquier otro cambio.
En el contexto espiritual, constituye una advertencia para el receptor a abandonar el deseo, para quemar todas las pasiones, los accesorios y las tentaciones, y tener pureza de pensamiento, palabra y obra.
Es la lección final que se llevan aquellos que vienen a mí con amor y devoción. Al igual que la materialización, de otro modo, también actúa como un talismán, protegiendo, curando a los enfermos y dar a aquellos que lo necesitan. Es el símbolo de la divinidad, muy diferente de los trucos de magia mencionados por usted.
Q: Se dice que han realizado curaciones milagrosas como la resurrección de los muertos. Hay casos en los que supuestamente salvó personas de ahogamiento y otros accidentes en lugares distantes. Los expertos médicos han atestiguado operaciones a distancia realizadas por usted. ¿Cómo maneja eso?
Baba: Por Mi sankalpa propio - es decir, por el poder y la voluntad divina - . Como Avathar, este poder es intrínseco, inherente, total y natural para mi decisión y voluntad. No necesito mantra (fórmula mística), no sadhana (práctica espiritual), no el tantras (escrituras sagradas) y no yantras (la peregrinación) para llamar y realizar milagros que son naturales en mi estado. Mis poderes son simplemente la expresión o la afirmación de la realidad, de la bondad que me une con todo en todas partes, en todo tiempo y lugar. Los milagros pertenecen al poder ilimitado de Dios.
Ahora que se acerca a los principales puntos de su pregunta, este fenómeno de curación tiene un doble aspecto. Yo puedo curar, salvar, incluso resucitar a las personas siempre que estén en una condición espiritual receptiva. Es como las corrientes positivas y negativas de la electricidad. Mi capacidad de curar puede ser comparada con la corriente positiva. Su devoción a Mí, es como la corriente negativa. Una vez que los dos se unen, la devoción ofrece lo que se llama el milagro de la curación.
Es la mente del hombre que es realmente responsable de su enfermedad o de salud. Él mismo es la causa o motivación de cada uno. Así que cuando se trata de sanación o curado, la fe necesaria tiene que ser creado en su mente para este fin. Todo lo que hago es invertir ,con él , la confianza, la voluntad y el poder de curarse a sí mismo. Es mi amor abundante correspondido, por la intensidad de la fe del devoto en mí, que producen el resultado deseado.
Q: ¿Entonces no se trata de poderes siddhic o trucos de magia, como sus críticos sugieren?
Baba: No son ni trucos mágicos ni poderes siddhic (ocultos), que puede alcanzar todo el mundo con la disciplina adecuada y ejercicios de yoga; mis poderes para proteger, curar y salvar a la gente y materializar objetos se originan en Dios y puede ser utilizado sólo por un Avathar. Ellos no son fruto de disciplinas o en desarrollos, es el flujo de la energía cósmica.
Q: Hay quienes dicen que trabaja con espíritus invisibles que puede transferir objetos de un lugar a otro a sus pedidos.
Baba: No hay necesidad de que yo ordene a espíritus invisibles, desde mi voluntad divina materializo los objetos. Yo soy todo, en todas partes, omnisciente, omnipotente y omnipresente, y así hago que suceda al instante. Al igual que las cualidades de la verdad, el amor y la paz, estas son cosas que generan el átmico (santo) o las fuerzas cósmicas detrás del universo.
Q: Tus seguidores en el país como en el extranjero reclamar una prueba positiva , intima de la presencia de Baba en su corazón . Algunos han escrito de usted como que son la morada de Dios. ¿Cuál es la explicación de este fenómeno?
Baba: Esta es la gracia engendrado por mi amor por ellos, correspondido por su devoción. Después de todo, ya que en repetidas ocasiones e dicho que todos pertenecemos al mismo principio divino. La piedad que está presente en todo el mundo en forma de una pequeña chispa, está presente en mí , como la llama completa, y es mi misión desarrollar cada chispa de Dios en cada persona a la plenitud de la llama divina.
El imperativo el desarrollo, por el receptor de la gracia , de la devoción necesaria para la consumación. Los que llevan la presencia de Baba en sus corazones habitándolo como Dios, pertenecen a esta clase de devotos. Ellos vienen a mí, para verme , oírme, y tener la experiencia de mi amor por ellos y lo reciben con devoción. Por lo tanto, se convierten en parte de mí y de mi divinidad.
Para los que dudan o los confunde, yo doy este ejemplo. Aquellos que quieran obtener perlas del mar tienen que bucear profundamente para buscarlos. Sin ayuda se meten entre las olas superficiales cerca de la costa y dicen que el mar no tiene perlas y que son historias falsas . Del mismo modo, si una persona quiere obtener el amor y la gracia de este Avathar, debe sumergirse profundamente y sumergirse en Sai Baba. Sólo entonces llegará a ser uno conmigo y me llevan en su corazón más íntimo.
Q: Los críticos de Swamiji preguntar por qué Sai Baba no ayuda a las personas en peligro, trayendo las lluvias en épocas de sequía o la creación de alimentos donde hay necesidad, por medio de su sankalpa shakti (poder divino, la energía universal). No puede ayudar a la humanidad el Avathar, controlando las fuerzas naturales y previniendo calamidades como terremotos, inundaciones, sequías, hambrunas y las epidemias?
Baba: Esto es precisamente lo que estoy haciendo, al encarnar como Dios , para que el hombre pueda superar estas calamidades. Hay dos formas en que un Avathar, puede ayudar a la gente: una solución inmediata, o a largo plazo .
Cualquier solución inmediata sería ir en contra de la cualidad fundamental de la naturaleza misma y en contra de la ley kármica de causa y efecto. La mayoría de las personas viven en el mundo material de sus deseos y egos, que se rige por esta ley. Cosechan los frutos de sus acciones . Esto lleva a su evolución o involución. Si interviene el Avathar, para resolver sus problemas al instante, paralizaría la evolución. Esta solución hay que descartarla, ya que niega totalmente las leyes naturales.
La otra alternativa y más eficaz presenta una solución a largo plazo ,en la que el Avatar lleva la misma gente a un nivel más alto de conciencia, para que puedan entender la verdad de las leyes espirituales para que puedan girar hacia mejores condiciones de trabajo. Esto relaciona a la naturaleza y la ley kármica de causa. Esto entonces trasciende el ciclo de causa y efecto, en lo que hoy están involucrados como víctimas, y por tanto tomar el mando y control de las fuerzas naturales, para ser capaces de evitar las calamidades que usted menciona.
Q: ¿Quiere decir que se puede elevar la conciencia de la humanidad a una condición divina ,para que puedan organizar su propio destino?
Baba: Exactamente. Se convertirían en accionistas de Mi sankalpa shakti (poder divino, la energía universal). Tengo que trabajar a través de ellos, despertar la morada de Dios en ellos y evolucionar a una realidad superior, a fin de que puedan dominar las fuerzas de la leyes naturales.
Si todo lo curo al instante, dejaría al pueblo en su nivel actual de conciencia, pronto estropearían las cosas y volverían a la misma situación caótica que se desarrollan en el mundo actualmente.
El sufrimiento y la miseria son los hechos ineludibles del drama cósmico. Dios no decretar estas calamidades, pero el hombre los invita a y habré camino para que sus propias malas acciones. Este es un castigo correctivo que induce a la humanidad a renunciar a la cambiar el camino equivocado por el camino correcto para que pueda experimentar la condición divina de Sat-Chit-Ananda - es decir, una existencia de la sabiduría y la felicidad.
Todo esto es la gran síntesis, en la que los negativos sirven para glorificar los aspectos positivos. Por lo tanto la muerte glorifica a la inmortalidad, la ignorancia glorifica la sabiduría, la miseria glorifica la felicidad, la noche glorifica el amanecer.
Así que, finalmente, si el Avatar pone fin de inmediato a las calamidades mencionadas por usted , lo que puedo hacer, y lo hago, cuando hay una gran necesidad, el drama de la creación con su ley del karma , va a colapsar. Recuerde, las calamidades no ocurre por lo que Dios ha hecho del hombre, ocurren en realidad por lo que el hombre ha hecho del hombre. Por lo tanto, el hombre tiene que ser deshecho y rehecho con su ego destruido y sustituido por una conciencia trascendente, para que pueda elevarse por encima del karma.
Q: ¿Ha tenido éxito en lograr esta síntesis, Swamiji, en especial con las clases ricas y poderosas?
Baba: No he llegado a todos ellos como una clase, pero en la medida en que soy capaz de contactar con ellos de forma individual, los resultados son alentadores. Los ricos ,y los poderosos, por supuesto, representa un problema difícil en materia de transformación. Ellos necesitan un enfoque aspecial. Los pobres, por el contrario, son muy cooperativos. Que entienden , aprecian y ayudan en mis planes e ideas.
Q: ¿Cuál es la solución a este conflicto creciente entre riqueza y poder, por un lado, y la pobreza y la debilidad en el otro?
Baba: La transformación de ambos en una sola hermandad de cooperación en materia de igualdad, sin competencia y conflictos. Esto sólo puede resultar de la verdad y el amor. La cuestión principal es fusionar las dos clases en una sola clase. El problema, sin embargo, es reunirlos en una base común o plataforma. Las personas ricas viven aislados en un determinado estado o condición. Los pobres también son igualmente aislados en otro estado o condición. ¿Cómo podemos reunirlos?
Lo hago de muchas maneras sutiles, rompiendo las barreras de la riqueza y la pobreza y la creación de un sentimiento de igualdad y unidad entre los pobres y los ricos. En este ashram (comunidad espiritual) va a encontrar viviendo y trabajando juntos, incluso realizando trabajos domésticos en condiciones de absoluta igualdad. Aquí no hay distinciones , ni instalaciones especiales para los ricos. Ellos viven, comen, trabajan, hacen culto y duermen como los pobres. Todos viven como una comunidad de trabajadores para compartir las austeridades comunes del ashram.
A pesar de nuestra rigurosa disciplina, industriales y comerciantes quieren venir aquí. ¿Por qué? Debido a que asegura la paz de la mente ,más allá de la comodidad física, ya que no hay riqueza ni poder en la tierra que pueda adquirir o proporcionarla .
De este modo abrimos a ellos, un mundo nuevo y maravilloso ,de los tesoros espirituales y deben sacrificar lo material y las comodidades. Mi misión es enseñarles el camino a la paz de la mente, que todo el mundo, tanto ricos como pobres, los desean.
En ese proceso de evolución espiritual, el buscador se entera de que este estado de felicidad, no se puede comprar con el dinero en una tienda o vienen de la misma. Que sólo puede venir de la fuente universal de la divinidad, el Dios en el que habita, que abarca pobres y ricos por igual. Este concepto crea una comunión común, una campana de hermandad , de toma y daca entre los ricos y los pobres. Aquellos que tienen demasiado se ven obligados a renunciar a sus deseos innecesarios, mientras que los que tienen muy poco, obtienen sus expectativas cumplidas.
Después de todo, en términos espirituales, todo el género humano pertenece a una y la misma clase, casta o religión. Los principios divinos en todos y cada uno de ellos se derivan del uno y el mismo Dios.
Esta unidad fundamental tiene que ser manifestada a través del contacto directo con las realidades espirituales y el poder persuasivo de la expansión del amor, hasta que se convierten en parte de la religión universal , de la obra, el culto y la sabiduría.
Q: ¿Todo esto sería evangelio simple y agradable para los pobres, ya que no pierden nada y ganar todo, desde su filosofía, pero ¿qué pasa con los ricos que tienen que perder todo ?
Baba: Ese es el quid de la cuestión. Simplemente tienen que perder, rendirse, sumergir sus falsos valores, si quieren mi gracia. Siempre y cuando las personas renuncien a ser esclavos del materialismo de la riqueza y la pobreza, no puede haber solución. Yo, por lo tanto, trato de convertir a sus mentes y corazones a los valores espirituales y verdaderos.
Después de todo, ¿quién es el hombre más rico? Aquel que tiene lo que mas quiere ,y por tanto sin problemas y preocupaciones? O uno que está satisfecho con lo mas necesario de la vida y, por tanto, es más o menos libre de deseos y feliz en comparación? A juzgar por los criterios de la felicidad, los pobres son ricos espiritualmente, pero los ricos son pobres de espíritu. No es la satisfacción material, sino espiritual, que en última instancia, vale la pena vivir.
Como he dicho antes, la vida sin deseo trae la divinidad al hombre, y los que buscan mi gracia deben dejar los deseos . Las riquezas ofrecen una tentación fatal. Ellos son la fuente y causa de la esclavitud humana. El deseo de elevar el nivel de vida nunca puede ser satisfecho. Esto lleva a la multiplicación de los deseos y los problemas consiguientes y frustraciones.
La solución está en nuestro énfasis en la calidad en relación con el nivel de vida, el pensamiento elevado y de vida humilde. La mente es el caballo, el cuerpo es el carro , para alcanzar la paz mental, hay que poner el caballo del pensamiento , antes del cuerpo del confort físico.
Q: Esta es la filosofía, pero ¿cómo ponerlo en práctica en la acción?
Baba: Los ricos y los pobres vienen a Sai Baba a buscar el amor, la paz y la liberación de sus problemas y dificultades. Mi receta es desinterés absoluto y la ausencia de deseos. Para los pobres, este es un estado natural o condición. Así que mi flujo de amor abraza su devoción. Así obtienen mi gracia.
Los ricos, por otro lado, no pueden asegurar esta gracia sin renunciar a su punto de vista materialista y egoísta adjuntos. Por lo tanto se convierte en obligatorio para ellos sacrificar la codicia material para recibir la gracia espiritual. Yo les digo:
Ego vidas por conseguir y el olvido,
El amor vive dando y perdonando.
De esta forma, puedo cambiar su actitud mental. Yo transformo su mente de mono, para amar, dar y perdonar las mentes.
Q: Mente de mono, Baba - ¿Qué quieres decir?
Baba: Es un tipo de trampa que es utilizada por los campesinos para atrapar y destruir a los monos. Cuando el campesino quiere atrapar a un mono, utiliza una olla grande con una boca estrecha, como una trampa. Dentro de la olla se pone el comestible que mas gusta el mono. El mono encuentra la olla y pone sus patas en el interior para captar la mayor cantidad de cosas que pueda contener. Una vez que lo hace, no es capaz de sacar sus garras desde el pequeño orificio de la olla. Se imagina que alguien dentro de la olla esta tomando sus patas, por lo que luchas y falla en los intentos de fuga con el bote, y queda atrapado. Nadie está tomando a el mono, sino que se ha atrapado a si mismo a causa de su codicia. Si sólo se permitiera soltar el material en sus garras , seria libre de la esclavitud.
De la misma manera le digo a la gente rica, el hombre es tentado por la riqueza, los placeres y los deseos del mundo. Cuando se pierde y sufre por las consecuencias de la codicia, y piensa que algo le toma hacia abajo,y lo captura destruyéndolo. En el momento en que se da por vencido, y deja las riquezas materiales y los deseos, sera liberado . Le hago dar cuenta de su esclavitud, de su mente de mono y de como liberarse a sí mismo.
Q: Baba parece ser que prescribe un tipo de socialismo espiritual basado en la conversión de la riqueza en un fideicomiso a favor de la eliminación de la pobreza.
Baba: Sí, un fideicomiso basado en el amor, la cooperación y la fraternidad. ¿Qué más puede uno hacer? El cambio debe evolucionar desde el corazón, no puede venir desde el exterior. Todas las doctrinas materialistas no han podido llevar a cabo la transformación real. Hay inequidades en cualquier lugar. Sólo la transformación espiritual ,con una mentalidad sin deseos, puede hacer la revolución fundamental en la conciencia humana.
Tenemos que transformar la sociedad de los falsos valores .
La gente tiene que estar convencido de que la única manera de despertar la divinidad latente en ellos, es dominar los deseos y la avaricia de conquistar el placer y el lujo, en vez de ser un esclavo de los valores materialistas falsos.
Q: Entonces, ¿Puedo considerar que las Organizaciones de Servicios, distintos Centros Sociales y Educativos , a cargo de Baba - UNOS 3.000 en total - estan diseñados para crear los cuadros necesarios para lograr el cambio deseado socio-económico, por medio del amor y la persuasión?
Baba: Están diseñadas para poner la nueva generación en el camino Sai de la verdad, la justicia, la paz, el amor y la no violencia. Su lema - el trabajo es adoración y el deber es Dios - busca llevar a el nuevo orden social en relación con Sathya - es decir, la verdad y el dharma - a saber, la acción correcta.
Q: La India ha sido descrito como uno de los países ricos, con muchos pobres. Tenemos la riqueza de todo el mundo encerrada en el seno de nuestra buena tierra. Y, sin embargo la gente sigue siendo pobre y atrasada económicamente. ¿Tiene usted alguna solución para rehabilitar nuestra economía?
Baba: Su análisis es correcto. La solución al problema que hemos planteado es el trabajo duro y el aumento de la producción sobre una base cooperativa. La gente tiene que liberarse de la enfermedad de la individualidad, la codicia y el egoísmo. Cada individuo debe aprender a pensar y trabajar en el concepto más amplio de la sociedad y sus necesidades. Una vez hecho esto, habrá menos palabras y más trabajo.
Una vez más, es el camino espiritual que puede salvar este país y al mundo, de las injusticias de un orden materialista. Lo que necesitamos es inculcar los aspectos espirituales y materiales de la vida. Que proporcionará el hombre un espíritu de conciencia social y cooperativa, imprescindible para la creación de la riqueza nacional y la prosperidad a través del trabajo desinteresado y de cooperación.
Q: Muy buen consejo, Swamiji - pero el problema es que toda la riqueza creada por el trabajo parece encontrar su camino en los bolsillos de una minoría rica y poderosa. ¿Tiene usted una receta espiritual para esta desigualdad?
Baba: No hay duda de que la distribución no se lleva a cabo correctamente. Las doctrinas actuales de la igualdad, el socialismo, etc, no han tenido éxito en el logro de la igualdad en la distribución de la riqueza y la propiedad. La dificultad no es igualar, la riqueza, la tierra y la propiedad con leyes; pero la ley ,puede lograr la igualdad en los deseos de la gente? .
Esto requiere el toque sanador del espíritu.
Para empezar, uno tiene que curar el deseo y sus terribles consecuencias. Debemos convencer a los ricos que el deseo y su cumplimiento en deseos materialistas es un aspecto de la mente de mono, que sólo puede hacerles daño y los puso bajo la esclavitud. Eso por sí solo, va a resolver el problema de la desigualdad y la mala distribución.
Si los ricos dejan sus deseos extravagantes, los pobres tendrán lo que necesitan y un poco más, y este proceso traerá distribución más equitativa.
Q: Para concluir esta sección, Swamiji, ¿podría resumir las principales causas del atraso social y económico de la India?
Baba: Desde un punto de vista puramente material, es una cuestión de oferta y demanda. Debido a los valores materiales abrumadores de nuestra sociedad, la demanda está creciendo más y más grandes, mientras que la oferta se mantiene igual o se reduce. La solución, obviamente, es aumentar el suministro o disminuir la demanda. Luego, por supuesto, existe el problema de la creciente población. Este problema triangular de desequilibrio económico tiene que ser espiritualizado para encontrar una solución eficaz .
Es aquí nuestra insistencia en una vida sin deseos, en el que las necesidades humanas se reducen a las necesidades mínimas, viene al rescate como el camino único camino de restablecer el equilibrio social y económico. Frenar sus deseos, reducir sus deseos, vivir en espiritualidad, y el material disponible será suficiente para toda la humanidad. Más que eso, las tensiones de un sistema socioeconómico competitivo será disuelta y la paz de la mente será restaurada.
La vida es como un viaje en un vehículo, entre el nacimiento y la muerte. El cuerpo es el vehículo en el que se moviliza hasta la muerte. Cuando menos equipaje, mejor. ¿Para qué cargar con las riquezas y comodidades materiales, cuando puede ocasionar trastornos o accidentes, y en todo caso, al final de la vida tendrá que dejar atrás todas sus posesiones ? ¿No sería mejor atender el espíritu inmortal, en vez de perder el tiempo en ganar riquezas y asegurar comodidades pasajeras ?
Esta es la lógica de la espiritualidad con la que se trata de cambiar la actitud de la gente.
Q: Baba ya ha aclarado la mayoría de las cuestiones planteadas por el Dr. Narasimhiah y otros críticos. Algunos, sin embargo, siguen sin respuesta. Como que no materializa calabazas o pepinos, si no un reloj con una marca distinta para demostrar que es su creación y no es una transferencia que otra persona fabrica?
Baba: Las calabazas y los pepinos se puede materializar con tanta facilidad como anillos u objetos. Pero estos son objetos perecederos , y como ya he explicado, radica en su permanencia. Es por eso que los anillos o relojes son más útiles como talismanes o medios de contacto y comunicación, entre el Avatar y sus devotos.
El punto que están tratando de demostrar es que los objetos grandes como calabazas no pueden ser transferidos, mientras que los más pequeños como los anillos si . Pero, como he dicho en repetidas ocasiones, no son transferencias de cosas, mediante un juego de manos. Creo talismanes.
Ahora , acerca de su pregunta acerca de un anillo o un reloj con una marca distinta para demostrar que es mi propia creación, le gustaría que le materialice algo para usted?
Q: Sí, Swamiji, ciertamente.
Baba agitó la mano en el aire para producir un anillo de plata con la inscripción del OM en el centro con las marca Sai Ram a los lados y me cogió la mano derecha suavemente, y lo puso en el dedo anular. Se trataba de un ajuste exacto y fue precisamente lo que quería de Baba.
Q: Gracias, Baba, me ha respondido a la pregunta muy bien. Ahora sobre Narasimhiah con respecto a la falsa Sai Krishna o Pandavapura expuestos por su comité como un fraude y un tramposo. Alega que el muchacho estaba patrocinado.
Baba: Les puedo asegurar que no hay absolutamente ninguna conexión entre él y yo. Su gente ha intentado varias veces arreglar una reunión entre nosotros, pero nos hemos negado a sus peticiones. Por supuesto, miles de personas, como usted vinieron esta mañana, vienen aquí para el darshan. Hay otros también que se hacen pasar como mis discípulos o ganar dinero con mi nombre. Como esto no ocurre sólo aquí, sino en otros estados incluso en el extranjero, no podemos hacer nada al respecto. Se exponen, tarde o temprano, como lo hizo este muchacho. Yo no tengo absolutamente ninguna conexión o relación con esas personas.
Q: El Comité Narasimhiah quería investigar sus milagros científicamente bajo condiciones controladas, como ellos dicen. Porque rechazó la propuesta. ¿Le gustaría comentar sobre esta controversia?
Baba: ¿Cómo puede la ciencia desde un punto de vista físico y materialista investigar los fenómenos, el alcance y comprensión trascendentes más allá de su ámbito ? Esto es una falacia . Uno pertenece a la materia y el otro a un plano espiritual. La ciencia debe limitar su investigación solamente a las cosas que pertenecen a los sentidos humanos, mientras que el espiritismo trasciende los sentidos. Si desea indagar la naturaleza del poder espiritual, sólo puede hacerlo a través del camino de la espiritualidad y no la ciencia. Que ciencia ha sido capaz de desentrañar, aunque sea una fracción de los fenómenos cósmicos, sino que tiende, sin embargo, a exagerar su contribución.
Q: Eso es cierto, Swamiji, pero la ciencia se está desarrollando todo el tiempo, puede la metafísica de ayer convertirse en la física de hoy.
Baba: Totalmente de acuerdo, pero sigue siendo ciegos al mundo vasto e invisible de la conciencia. El hecho de que la ciencia está cambiando todo el tiempo no cambia su incapacidad para investigar la verdad última y absoluta. Hace algún tiempo, los científicos mantienen que el átomo no podía ser roto, pero recientemente lograron romperlo. Pero siguen siendo ignorantes de la realidad de la fuerza pránica detrás del átomo, que es el menor de sus componentes.
La ciencia no es más que una luciérnaga en la luz y el esplendor del sol. Es cierto que se puede investigar, descubrir y reunir una gran cantidad de funciones e información de la naturaleza sobre lo material y utilizarlo para el desarrollo de las cosas mundanas. El espiritismo, en la otra mano, reina sobre el campo cósmico donde la ciencia no tiene cabida. Es por eso que algunos descubrimientos de la ciencia son útiles, mientras que otros pueden ser desastrosos.
Como he dicho antes, el Dr. Narasimhiah y su grupo son como los hombres Telugu que van al cine a ver una película tamil. Verán el baile sólo, los combates y la violencia, los héroes y villanos, la estrella con un bello rostro y esas cosas tipo superficial, pero se van a perder los aspectos más sutiles, como la música y la poesía, la trama, el diálogo, la chistes etc.
Sin embargo, como he dicho una y otra vez, los que quieren entenderme son bienvenidos aquí. Es el espíritu de la investigación que es importante . Parapsicólogos extranjeros han venido aquí y me examinaron, con un espíritu positivo y constructivo. Tu has visto sus informes. Ellos no escriben cartas o hacen demandas públicas.
El enfoque Narasimhiah era inadecuado, por eso lo rechacé. Si no fuera así, habría sido bienvenido. Yo no llamo a la gente ha aquí, para que puedan someterse a un Dios. Quiero que venga, vean, escuchen, estudien, observen, experimenten y se den cuenta de Baba. Sólo entonces, va a entender y apreciar al Avatar.
Q: Dr. Narasimhiah sostiene que según la ciencia, "Nada puede ser creado de la nada." Que evidentemente la ciencia lo ha comprobado con una fórmula trascendental para el control de la energía cósmica y la producción de energía paranormal. ¿Puede explicar este misterio?
Baba: La fórmula que nada puede ser creado de la nada es apropiado para el campo limitado y las dimensiones de la ciencia. No se aplica para el campo trascendental y las dimensiones de la espiritualidad. En este último campo, cualquier cosa puede ser Creada por la voluntad suprema. Todo lo que existe se puede hacer desaparecer y lo que no existe puede hacer que aparecer.
Nuestra historia, la tradición, la escritura, así como la literatura, están llenos de incidentes de este tipo que ellos llaman milagros. Las leyes materiales y fórmulas simplemente no se aplican a la divinidad. Para mí esto no es un asunto de misterio o mística. Lo que yo quiero, que suceda, lo que ordeno, se materializa.
Q: El Vice-canciller parece ridículo en su afirmación de que "No hay Dios en todos nosotros." Él pregunta: "¿No es escapismo puro ¿Cómo puede Dios estar tan seguro de sí mismo?"
Baba: Sus preguntas contradice el fundamento mismo de la filosofía india, así como el de la mayoría de las religiones. Todas nuestras Escrituras afirman que Dios esta Presente en todo el mundo. De acuerdo con Vivekananda, "Dios está presente en todos". Lo único que se manifiesta y genera todo el mundo y, de hecho, gobierna y dirige todo el universo, es la divinidad. Nada existe realmente excepto la divinidad.
Lo mío no es escapismo, es la verdad fundamental y eterna. Digo esto no porque no estoy seguro de mi propia divinidad. Es mi confianza en mi autenticidad absoluta y total que me hace afirmar este hecho. Se trata de los científicos, que son tan inseguros de sí mismos, que se entregan a las teorías escapistas.
Por ejemplo, dicen que la luna no tiene vida. Al mismo tiempo, sostienen que toda la materia se compone de átomos en movimiento. Ahora no es la luna también un conglomerado de los mismos átomos en movimiento? Entonces ¿cómo puede no tener vida? No hay materia que no este hechas de átomos, electrones, protones y neutrones, que también están en constante movimiento. Esta energía también es Dios.
Así también, no hay ser humano en quien no haya divinidad. Decir que no hay Dios en el hombre es como decir que no hay un átomo en la masa de la luna . La omnipresencia de Dios ha sido descrita en los textos antiguos como: "maniyam ano baniyammahatoo" (Dios es una pequeña partícula en la más pequeña de las partículas y una gran masa en la mayor de las masas). En este contexto, ¿cómo se puede decir que Dios no está en el hombre?
Q: Otra de las cuestiones pertinentes planteadas por sus críticos es que muestran una preferencia por los ricos y poderosos y no por los pobres en asuntos de dones divinos como, curas milagrosas y darshans individual. ¿Es esto cierto? Si es así, ¿por qué?
Baba: Esto está mal. Nunca hago ninguna distinción entre los ricos y los pobres. Yo sólo miro desde el punto de vista de su devoción, sus deseos, el sacrificio que están dispuestos a hacer y sus problemas. Estuvo aquí esta mañana, cientos de personas y unos cuantos ricos, la mayoría eran pobres. ¿Crees que me estoy haciendo alguna distinción? Todos los que traje a esta sala eran pobres y débiles, enfermos o con problemas.
Q: Por lo que Baba ha dicho hasta ahora, parece que su misión es permitir a la humanidad redescubrir y encarnar la santidad perdida. Estoy en lo cierto?
Baba: Tiene usted razón. Cuando el hombre se vuelve hacia el interior para darse cuenta de su verdadero yo, entonces Dios se manifestará en él. La auto-realización es la realización de Dios. En palabras simples, es la constatación de que no son sólo un cuerpo y la mente con los órganos físicos, que está dentro de ti - el Atma, que es Dios - distinto de las cosas perecederas.
Este Atma es omnipotente, omnipresente y omnisciente. La comprensión de esta verdad te pone en el camino correcto para la realización de Dios.
Q: ¿Así que su objetivo se puede resumir como una fraternidad de la humanidad que se logra a través de la doctrina del amor?
Baba: Sí, ¿qué otra cosa puede salvar al mundo de los fuegos termonucleares? Todo apunta a el terror de incendio por venir, y mi misión es adelantarse a los fuegos mediante el restablecimiento del dharma y la ley espiritual de Dios, una religión, una lengua que abarca una sola humanidad.
Yo predico sólo una religión de amor para todos, la única que puede integrar a la raza humana en una hermandad de los hombres bajo la paternidad de Dios. Sé que sólo un lenguaje del corazón más allá de la mente o el intelecto, relacionara al hombre con el hombre y la humanidad a Dios, creando así la comprensión mutua, la cooperación y la vida comunitaria en paz y armonía. Sobre esta base, quiero construir una humanidad SIN NINGUNA , barreras de casta ,religiones, o de otro tipo, en un imperio universal del amor, que permitiría a mis devotos sentir mundo como su familia.
Q: Bien dicho, Baba - pero no entra este dharma de orientación hindú en conflicto con las religiones establecidas?
Baba: No, no va a hacer nada por el estilo, porque mi objetivo es el establecimiento de Sanatana Dharma, que cree en un Dios unico para todas las religiones. Así que nadie tiene que renunciar a su religión o deidad, pero a través del culto a ellos, llegar a un Dios en todo. No he venido a perturbar o destruir, sino para confirmar y reivindicar a cada uno en su propia fe.
Q: Pero, ¿cómo evitar que un holocausto nuclear?
Baba: Al eliminar todas las causas, las fuentes, las barreras y las provocaciones de clase, casta, credo, color y raza, y reemplazando el odio y la violencia existente con el amor y la no violencia. Espero brindar a la humanidad un evangelio de cooperación pacífica para reemplazar la actual escalada de la muerte y destrucción.
RKKaranjia: Gracias, Swamiji. Estoy aún más agradecido, porque realmente no esperaba que respondiera a la larga lista de mis preguntas.
NUESTRA VIDA ES SU MENSAJE
OMSAIRAMMM...
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Complete Transcript of Bhagawan's Interview to Shri.R.K.Karanjia - Sept 1976.
Below is the Complete Transcript of the Most Wonderful Interview given by Bhagawan to the Senior Editor, Sri R.K. Karanjia of Blitz News Magazine in September,1976. It is an Interview relevant to all times and especially now in these times when Bhagawan's Physical is not with us.
R.K. Karanjia : At the outset, Swamiji, we would like to know something about your triple incarnation -- past, present and future -- that is, from Shirdi Sai Baba to Sathya Sai Baba and the Prema Sai Baba to come, according to your prophecy.
Baba: First of all, you must grasp the complete oneness of the three incarnations of contemporary times with those of the past like Rama and Krishna. This is a difficult task. When people cannot understand the present, how can they comprehend the past ? Every incarnation is full and complete in relation to the time, environment and the task. There is no distinction between the various appearances of God as Rama, Krishna or Sai.
Rama came to feed the roots of truth and righteousness, Krishna followed to foster the plant of peace and love. Now these sacred principles are in danger of wholesale destruction by reason of human weakness under the onslaught of evil forces. They are overcoming the good, the spiritual and the divine in man. That is why the present Avathar has come invested with the totality of cosmic power to save dharma (righteousness) from anti-dharma.
Q: By the present Avathar, you mean Sai Baba?
Baba: Yes, I incarnate from age to age, time to time, to save dharma from anti-dharma. Whenever strife, discord and disharmony overwhelm the world, God incarnates in human form to show mankind the way to love, harmony and peace.
Q: That is understandable. But skeptics wonder why God should assume human form?
Baba: Because that is the only way to incarnate the God within man. The Avathar takes the human form and behaves in a human way so that humanity can feel kinship with divinity. At the same time he rises to godly heights so that mankind also can aspire toreach God. The realization of the indwelling God as the motivator of life is the task for which Avathars come in human form.
Previous Avathars like Rama and Krishna had to destroy a few individuals who could be identified as enemies of the godly way of life and thusrestore the dharmic path. Today, however, wickedness has tainted so many that humanity itself stands under thethreat of destruction. Therefore, in My present Avathar, I have come armed with the fullness of the power of formless God to correct mankind, raise human consciousness and put people back on the right path of truth, righteousness, peace and love to divinity.
Q: Why had this task to be divided into three separate incarnations of the Shirdi, Sathya and Prema Babas?
Baba: They are not separate. I have already mentioned the complete oneness of the three in the final objective of the mission. I will give you an example. Take a kilo of gur (a sweet substance). The whole of it tastes sweet. Next break it into small pieces. Each of them is sweet. Finally break them into small grains. You find the same sweetness in them. So the difference is one of quantity and notquality. It is the same with the Avathars. Their tasks and powers requisite to them differ according to thetime, the situation and the environment. But they belong to, and derive from, one and the same dharma swarup or divine body.
Let us take the example of fruit. It begins with the seed which grows into the tree and from it comes the fruit. Work can be compared to the seed, worship to the tree and wisdom to the fruit.
The previous Avathar, Shirdi Baba, laid the base for secular integration and gave mankind the message [that] duty is work. The mission of thepresent Avathar is to make everybody realize that the same God or divinity resides in everyone. People shouldrespect, love and help each other irrespective of color or creed. Thus all work can become a way of worship. Finally, Prema Sai, the third Avathar will promote the evangel news that not only does God reside in everybody, but everybody is God. That will be the final wisdom which will enable every man and woman to go to God. The three Avathars carry the triple message of work, worship and wisdom.
Q: So that is the holy mission and divine purpose of this triple incarnation?
In the first place, man has to develop into mankind in the fullness of its integrated potential. At present mankind as such is absent in the world. There is no synthesis between thought, word and deed. Man today thinks one thing, says something different, and acts quite the contrary. So what we have is the individual man, confused, confounded and bombarded with contradictory thoughts. What we do not see is mankind in him motivated by good thoughts, good words and good deeds. We have to make him realize God within him to develop a synthesis correlating thought, word and deed.
Once this primary lesson is taught in the family, the school, the college, the society, the cities, the states, the nations of the world, then man will become conscious of the fact that all mankind belongs to one family. As Christ preached, all are one, be alike to everyone. The vital issue is the oneness: one caste, one class, one creed of humanity: and this can be achieved only by the surrender of one's self or ego to pure, selfless, universal love and devotion. Love is the basis, the common denominator, and devotion the divine spark, the cementing, unifying, integrating factor between man and man, and man and God.
Let Me give you an illustration. (Baba spreads his handkerchief on the ground between us). Here is a piece of cloth. As you see, it is all madeof threads. Pull out the threads separately and the cloth becomes weak. Put them together and it is firm andstrong. It is the same with mankind. Love binds it like the million, billion threads in cloth and devotion reunites it with God. I, therefore embody love and use it as My instrument to regenerate man and create the brotherhood of mankind with the help of the latter's devotion. I always say: Start the day with love. Fill the day with love. End the day with love. This is the quickest way, the surest path to God.
Life is love, enjoy it;
Life is a challenge, meet it;
Life is a song, sing it;
Life is a dream, realize it;
Life is a game, play it.
Q: Did Shirdi Baba actually claim that he would be born eight years after his death in 1918?
Baba: Yes, he did. This has been recorded by Kaka Dikshit as well as a number of other devotees who were with Shirdi Baba.
Q: What makes you so sure that you are Shirdi Baba incarnate?
Baba: The knowledge of My own authentic experience, of course. Since no one who knew Shirdi Baba is alive today, there is no evidence except My own knowledge and experience. The very fact that I announced that I am Shirdi Baba 40 years ago, when I was only 10 and when nobody in this part of the South had known or even heard of Shirdi Baba proves this fact.
Q: The existing situation driven by evil forces to destruction as you have correctly analyzed it, appears to suggest the inevitability of another Mahabharata-type (an epic relating to the battle of Kurukshetra) war. Does this mean that the salvation forwhich you are working can be consummated only after a destructive war?
Baba: The evil must and shall be removed before such a catastrophe takes place. There will be minor wars and skirmishes, of course: these cannot be helped in the existing state of affairs. The Mahabharata war was a different issue altogether. Lord Krishna decreed it and, in fact, led Arjuna to the battlefield in order to rid the world of evil men and ungodly forces.
Today, as I told you, the evil is so widespread that humanity itself would be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust in the event of a world war. It is to prevent such a catastrophe that this Avathar has come to raise human consciousness above the existing syndrome of anger, hate, violence and war and save the world from disaster. This can be achieved only by the reestablishment of the brotherhood of mankind though the Vedas, Shastras and all religions with their evangel of dharma to liberate the human race from the chains of karma (the cycle of birth and death). I always say: Let the different faiths exist, let them flourish, let the glory of God be sung in all the languages in a variety of tunes. They should be the ideal. Respect the differences between the faiths and recognize them as valid so far as they do not extinguish the flame of unity.
Q: From what Baba has said, it seems that there is not much difference or dichotomy between God and man. Am I right?
Baba: Quite right, God is man and man is God. All of us have something of God, the divine spark, within us. All men are divine like Myself, but with the spirit embodied in human flesh and bone. The only difference is that they are unaware of this Godhood. They have come into this karmic prison through the mistakes of many lives. I have taken this mortal form out of My own free will. They are bound to the body, while I am free of this bondage. The main difference is that they are shoved hither and thither by desire but I have no desire except the supreme one to make them desireless.
Take paddy or rice by way of an illustration. Every grain of rice is enclosed in a husk. You have to remove the husk to get the grain ofrice. Now husk and rice, both come from the same seed. Rice is the equivalent of God in man, while the husk can becompared to desire which reduces God to man. Therefore, My formula is:
LIFE + DESIRE = MAN
LIFE - DESIRE = GOD
Q: In what way can life without desire make Gods of men?
Baba: Life without desire means the realization of the pure, genuine self that is Atma. Bound to desire, the self degenerates intoselfishness. Atma turns into ego. The way of self-realization is to cleanse the self of this ego of selfishness. Then youreach a state of consciousness beyond the mind or intellect, revealing the true self that is God. The mind is like a cloth that covers andstifles consciousness, the threads of which are desires. If we give up the desires, the threads fall and the clothdisappears, revealing our true nature. That is what the Vedanta (epic of ancient wisdom and knowledge) means when it enjoins that one must get rid of the ego to realize oneself.
Q: You mean that the mind of man as such creates the block between man and God?
Baba: Yes. One must make a distinction between the mind that is the ego, and the real self that is consciousness. The latter helps us to cross the frontiers of the ego-mind and become aware of oneself as the witness of truth. Normally the scientist of the mind looks outside to what can be perceived by the senses existing in the world of the mind to ask: What is this? The scientist of consciousness, on the other hand, always looks inside to that which is beyond the senses or the grasp of the mind to ask: What is that?
One has, therefore, to rise beyond the mind to consciousness to achieve self-realization. To gain the infinite, universal Atma, the embodied selfmust break out of the puny, finite little prison of individuality. Desire belongs to the senses, the brain, the mind; once you become free of it, you realize the self, Atma, consciousness, enlightenment, and become one with the cosmic power. Self realization is God-realization. Thus man reaches God.
Q: What is the significance of the vibuthi (holy ash) and the trinkets that you materialize and give to people? Is there any need for a Godman to demonstrate such miracles which any magician can conjure?
Baba: So far as I am concerned this is evidence of My divinity. It is not by any means an exhibition of divinity. All performances of magic, asyou know are done for the sake of income. These are tricks of the magicians trade. They constitute a kind oflegalized cheating, the transfer of an object from one place to another by a trick of the hand which goes unnoticed. They involve no siddhi (occult power) or miraculous power.
What I do is quite a different act of creation. It is neither magic, nor is it siddhi power either. For one thing, I seek no return. For another, I do not cheat people by transferring objects, but I create them. Again, I do so not because of any need ordesire of exhibition of My powers. For Me this is a kind of calling card to convince people of My love for them and secure their devotion in return. Since love is formless, I do materialization as evidence of My love. It is merely a symbol.
Q : Still I do not understand why you should materialize rings, bracelets, watches and those kind of trinkets.
Baba: Most people desire talismans as symbolic of My protection. So I provide them. When they are in trouble they feel the grip of the ring, bracelet or watch to remember Me and call Me to their rescue so that I can help them. On the other hand, if I give them something they cannot wear, they are likely to store it and forget about it.
The main thing is that these trinkets or talismans, by whatever name you call them, give people a sense of security and protection they need in times of troubles or crises and create a symbolic link covering the long distances between them and Myself. When the devotees need Me, these objects flash the message as if by wireless and I instantly come to their rescue.
Q: I am sorry to be persistent, Swamiji, but isn't the gift of an Omega or HMT watch an act of cheating the company or breach of its patent?
Baba: I assure you there is no such thing. It would be cheating the company or breaching the patent if it were a case of transfer of the watch from one place to the other. But I do not transfer; I totally create. Whatever I will, instantly materializes. I know of no company that has complained about any breach of patent.
Q: What about vibuthi materialized by you? We would like to know its relevance because your critics are trying to discredit you by sending around magicians who produce exact replicas of vibuthi.
Baba: What I materialize is a manifestation of divinity with a potent significance as well as symbolism. It is symbolic of the cosmic, immortaland infinite nature of all forms of God, Atma or the spirit -- that is, what is left when everything worldly, transient and changeable has burnt away.
I have spoken to you of the imperative of a desireless life. After Shiva had burnt the God of desire, Kama, into a heap of ashes, he adorned himself with the ash to shine as the conqueror of desire. When Kama was destroyed, Prema reigned as the Goddess of love. Such is the significance of ash.
In the first place, it is symbolic of the life-death cycle in which everything ultimately reduces itself to ash. "For dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou returnest." Ash or dust is the final condition of things. It cannot undergo any further change. In the spiritual context, it constitutes a warning to the receiver to give up desire, to burn all passions, attachments and temptations, and makes one pure in thought, word and deed.
It is in order to press home this lesson that I materialize ash for those who come to Me with love and devotion. Like the other materializations, it also acts as a talisman, healing the sick and giving protection to those who need it. It is the symbol ofdivinity, quite different from the magician's trickery mentioned by you.
Q: You are believed to have performed miraculous cures to the extent of resurrecting the dead. There are cases where you reportedly saved peoplefrom drowning and other accidents in distant places. Medical experts have attested to remote controlledsurgical operations performed by you. How do you manage these?
Baba: By My own sankalpa -- that is, divine will and power. As an Avathar, this power is intrinsic, inherent, total and natural to My will anddecision. I need no mantra (mystical formula), no sadhana (spiritual practice), no tantra (sacred writings) andno yantra (pilgrimage) to perform the so-called miracles which are natural to My state. My powers are simply the expression or assertion of the reality of goodness which merges Me with everything, everywhere, at all times and places. The miracles belong to the boundless power of God.
Now coming to the main points of your question, this healing phenomena has a dual aspect. I can cure, save, even resurrect people provided theyare in a spiritually receptive condition. It is like the positive and negative currents of electricity. My capacity to heal can be compared to the positive current. Your devotion to Me is like the negative current. Once the two come together, the devotion provides what is called the miracle of healing.
It is man's mind that is really responsible for his illness or health. He himself is the cause or motivator of either. So when it comes tohealing or curing, the necessary faith has to be created within his mind for the purpose. All I do is invest himwith the confidence, will and power to cure himself. It is My abounding love reciprocated by the intensity of the devotee's faith in Me that produce the desired result.
Q: So these are not siddhic powers or magical tricks, as your critics suggest?
Baba: They are neither magical tricks nor siddhic (occult) powers, which can come to everybody with the appropriate discipline and yoga exercises, but My powers to protect, heal and save people and materialize objects originate in God and can be used only by an Avathar. They are in no way designed, disciplined or developed, but flow from cosmic power.
Q: Some say that you command invisible spirits which can transfer objects from one place to another on your orders.
Baba: There is no need for Me to command invisible spirits since My own divine will materializes the objects. I am everything, everywhere, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; and so whatever I will, instantly happens. Like the qualities of truth, love and peace, these are things that generate the atmic (godly) or cosmic forces behind the universe.
Q: Your followers at home as well as abroad claim positive evidence of the presence of Baba in their innermost hearts. Some have written of you as their in-dwelling God. What is the explanation of this phenomenon?
Baba: This is the grace begotten of My love for them reciprocated by their devotion. After all, as I repeatedly say, we all belong to the samedivine principle. The godliness which is present in everybody in the form of a little spark is present in Me asthe full flame, and it is My mission to develop every little spark of God in everyone to the fullness of the divine flame.
The first imperative of this development is that the receiver of the grace also provides from his or her side the devotion necessary to the consummation. Those who carry the presence of Baba in their hearts like an in-dwelling God belong to these kinds of devotees. They come to Me, see Me and hear Me, experience My love for them and receive it with devotion. Thus, they become part of Me and My divinity.
To the doubting or confused ones, I give this illustration. Those who want to secure pearls from the sea have to dive deep to fetch them. It doesnot help them to dabble among the shallow waves near the shore and say that the sea has no pearls and allstories about them are false. Likewise, if a person wants to secure the love and grace of this Avathar, he must also dive deep and get submerged in Sai Baba. Then, only, will he become one with Me and carry Me in his innermost heart.
Q: The critics of Swamiji ask why Sai Baba does not help people in distress by bringing rains in times of drought or creating food where there isfamine by means of his sankalpa shakti (divine power, universal energy). Cannot an Avathar help humanity tocontrol the natural forces and prevent calamities like earthquakes, floods, droughts, famine and epidemics?
Baba: This is precisely what I am doing by incarnating the in-dwelling God in man to overcome such calamities. There are two ways in which an Avathar can help people: an instant solution as against a long term one.
Any instant solution would go against the fundamental quality of nature itself as well against the karmic law of cause and effect. Most peoplelive in the material world of their desires and egos, which is governed by this law. They reap the fruits oftheir actions. This brings about their evolution or devolution. If the Avathar intervenes to instantly solve their problems, it would stop all action, development, even evolution. This solution can be ruled out because it totally negates the natural laws.
The other and more effective alternative presents a long-term solution whereby the Avathar leads the people themselves to a higher level ofconsciousness to enable them to understand the truth of spiritual laws so that they may turn towards righteousnessand steadfastly work for better conditions. This will relate them back to nature and the karmic law of causation. This would then transcend the cycle of cause and effect in which today they are involved as victims and thereby command and control the natural forces to be able to avert the calamities you mention.
Q: You mean that you are presently raising the consciousness of mankind to a godlike condition to enable them to command their own destiny?
Baba: Exactly. They would become shareholders of My sankalpa shakti (divine power, universal energy). I have to work through them, rouse thein-dwelling God in them and evolve them to a higher reality in order to enable them to master the natural law andforces. If I cure everything instantly, leaving the people at their present levels of consciousness, they would soon mess up things and be at one another's throats again with the result that the same chaotic situation would develop in the world.
Suffering and misery are the inescapable acts of the cosmic drama. God does not decree these calamities but man invites them by way ofretribution for his own evil deeds. This is corrective punishment which induces mankind to give up the wrong path andreturn to the right path so that he may experience the godlike condition of sat-chit-ananda -- that is, an existence of wisdom and bliss. All this is part of the grand synthesis in which the negatives serve to glorify the positives. Thus death glorifies immortality, ignorance glorifies wisdom, misery glorifies bliss, night glorifies dawn.
So, finally, if the Avathar brings the calamities mentioned by you to an immediate end, which I can do, and do, when there is a great need, thewhole drama of creation with its karmic (universal, inescapable duty) law will collapse. Remember, thesecalamities occur not because of what God has made of man but really because of what man has made of man. Therefore, man has to be unmade and remade with his ego destroyed and replaced by a transcendent consciousness so that he may rise above the karmic to command.
Q: Have you succeeded in bringing about this synthesis, Swamiji, particularly with the wealthy and powerful classes?
Baba: I have not reached all of them as a class, but to the extent that I am able to contact them individually, the results are encouraging. Thewealthy and powerful, of course, present a difficult problem in the matter of transformation. They need aspecial approach. The poor people, on the other hand, are very cooperative. They understand, appreciate and help My plans and ideas.
Q: What is the solution to this escalating conflict between wealth and power on one side, and poverty and weakness on the other?
Baba: The transformation of both into a single cooperative brotherhood on terms of equality without competition or conflict. This can result only from truth and love. The main issue is to fuse the two classes into one single class. The problem, however, is one of bringing them together on a common base or platform. Wealthy people live isolated in a certain state or condition. The poor also are similarly isolated in another state or condition. How do we bring them together?
I do so in many subtle ways by breaking the barriers of wealth and poverty and creating a feeling of equality and oneness between the poor and the rich. In this ashram (spiritual community) you find them living and working together, even performing menial labor on terms of complete equality. Here there are no distinctions whatever, nor any special facilities for the rich. They live, eat, work, worship and sleep like the poor. All live like a community of workers to share the common austerities of the ashram.
Despite our rigorous discipline, industrialists and businessmen want to come here. Why? Because they secure peace of mind beyond physical comfort which no wealth or power on earth can purchase or provide.
Thus we open to them a wonderful new world of spiritual treasures and they must sacrifice material wants and comforts. My mission is to show them the way to peace of mind which everybody, rich and poor alike, desires. In that process of spiritual evolution, the seeker learns that this blissful state cannot be purchased for money in a shop or gifted to one by anybody but oneself. It can come only from the universal source of divinity, the in-dwelling God that embraces poor and rich alike. This concept creates a common fellowship, a brother hood of give and take between the wealthy and the poor. Those who have too much are obliged to give up their unnecessary wants, while those who have too little get their needs fulfilled.
After all, in spiritual terms, all mankind belongs to one and the same class, caste or religion. The divine principles in each and all of them derive from one and the same God. This fundamental oneness has to be made manifest to them through direct contact with spiritual realities and the persuasive expanding power of love, till they become part of the universal religion of work, worship and wisdom.
Q: All this would be simple and welcome evangel for the poor since they lose nothing and gain everything from your philosophy, but what about the rich who have to lose all if they followed it?
Baba: That is the crux of the problem. They simply have to lose, surrender, submerge their false values if they want My grace. So long as peoplecontinue to be slaves of materialistic definitions of wealth and poverty, there can be no solution. I, therefore, try to convert their minds and hearts to spiritual values and truths.
After all, who is the richest man? One who has the largest wants and, therefore, troubles and worries? Or one who is satisfied with the barestnecessities of life and, therefore, is more or less desireless and comparatively happy? Judged from thiscriterion of happiness, the poor are spiritually rich but the rich are spiritually poor. It is not material but spiritual satisfaction that ultimately makes life worth living.
As I have said before, life without desire brings divinity to man; and those who seek My grace must shed desire and greed. Riches provide a fatal temptation. They are the source and cause of human bondage. The desire to raise the standard of life can never be satisfied. It leads to multiplication of wants and consequent troubles and frustrations.
The solution lies in our emphasis on the quality as against the standard of life, on high thinking and lowly living. The mind is the horse, thebody the cart: to achieve mental peace, you must put the horse of high thinking before the cart of physicalcomfort.
Q: This is sound philosophy but how do you implement it in action?
Baba: The rich as well as the poor come to Sai Baba to seek love, peace and liberation from their problems and troubles. My prescription to themis absolute selflessness and desirelessness. To the poor, this is a natural state or condition. So My loveflows to them to embrace their devotion. Thus they obtain My grace.
The rich, on the other hand, cannot secure this grace without surrendering their materialistic outlook and selfish attachments. So it becomes obligatory for them to sacrifice material greed to receive spiritual grace. I tell them:
Ego lives by getting and forgetting,
Love lives by giving and forgiving.
In this way, I change their mental attitude. I transform their monkey-minds into loving, giving and forgiving minds.
Q: Monkey-minds, Baba -- what do you mean?
Baba: It is a kind of mentality that is used by peasants to trap and destroy monkeys. When the peasant wants to catch a monkey, he uses a big pot with a narrow mouth as a trap. Inside the pot he puts edibles which the monkey loves. The monkey finds the pot and puts its paws inside to grasp as much of the stuff as it can hold. Once it does so, it is unable to pull out its paws from the small mouthof the pot. It imagines that someone inside the pot is holding its paws, so it struggles and attempts to runaway with the pot, only to fail and get trapped. No one is holding the monkey; it has trapped itself because of its greed. If only it lets the stuff in its paws go, it will be free of bondage.
In the same way I tell rich people, man is tempted by the wealth, pleasures and desires of the world. When he gets lost in such attachment andsuffers the consequences of greed, he thinks that something is binding him down, capturing him, destroying him. The moment he gives up material wealth and desires, he will be free. I make him realize his bondage to the monkey-mind and liberate himself.
Q: Baba seems to be prescribing a kind of spiritual socialism based on the conversion of wealth into a trusteeship for the removal of poverty.
Baba: Yes, a trusteeship based on love, cooperation and brotherhood. What else can one do? The change must evolve from the heart; it cannot beimposed from outside. All materialist doctrines have failed to bring about any real transformation. There is noequality anywhere. Only spiritual transformation into a desireless mentality can put through the imperative revolution in human consciousness from which alone the desired changes can accrue.
We need to transform society from false to real values. We have to convince people that the ideal of a high standard of life is wrong. It must bereplaced with a high level of living and thinking on the basis of humility, morality, compassion anddetachment, as against the existing greed for competitive luxury and conspicuous consumption. People have to be convinced that the only way to rouse the latent divinity in them is to master desires and conquer greed for pleasure and luxury instead of being a slave to these false materialistic values.
Q: Then I take it that the various educational and social service organizations run by Baba -- some 3,000 in all -- are designed to create the cadres necessary for bringing about the desired socioeconomic change by means of love and persuasion?
Baba: They are designed to put the new generation on the Sai path of truth, righteousness, peace, love and nonviolence. Their motto -- work is worship and duty is God -- seeks to bring in the new social order related to Sathya -- that is, truth, and dharma -- namely, right action.
Q: India has been described as a rich country of poor people. We have the wealth of the whole world locked up in the bosom of our good earth. And yet the people remain economically poor and backward. Have you any solution to rehabilitate our economy?
Baba: Your analysis is correct. The solution to the problem you have posed lies in hard work and increased production on a cooperative basis. Toachieve this, one has to rid people of the disease of individuality, greed and selfishness. Every individualmust be taught to think and work in the broader concept of society and its needs. Once that is done, there will be less talk and more work.
Here again, it is the spiritual path that can save this country and the world from the wrongs of a materialistic order. What we need is asynthesis of the spiritual and material aspects of life. That will provide man with the social conscience andcooperative spirit imperative to the creation of national wealth and prosperity through selfless, cooperative labor.
Q: Very good counsel, Swamiji - but the trouble is that all the wealth created by labor appears to find its way into the pockets of a rich and powerful minority. Have you a spiritual prescription for this inequality?
Baba: There is no doubt that the distribution is not taking place properly. The existing doctrines of equality, socialism, etc., have not succeeded in achieving equality in distribution of wealth and property. The difficulty is that you equalize, wealth, land and property by legalization, but can the law bring about equality in the desires of the people? This requires the healing touch of spiritualism.
To begin with, one has to cure desire and its evil consequences. We must persuade the rich that desire and its fulfillment in materialistic wants is an aspect of the monkey-mind which can only harm them and put them under bondage. That alone will solve the problem of inequality and maldistribution.
The rich will give up their extravagant wants, the poor will get what they need and a little more; and this process will bring about more equitable distribution.
Q: To conclude this section, Swamiji, would you sum up the main causes of India's social and economic backwardness?
Baba: From a purely material viewpoint, it is a question of supply and demand. Because of the overpowering material values of our society, the demand is growing larger and larger, while the supply remains the same or decreases. The solution, obviously, is to increase the supply or decrease the demand. Then, of course, there is the problem of growing population. This triangular issue of economic imbalance needs to be spiritualised if an effective solution is to be found.
It is here that our insistence on a desireless life, in which human wants are reduced to the minimum needs, comes to the rescue as the onlypossible way of restoring the social and economic balance. Curb your desires, reduce your wants, live in spiritualausterity, and the available material will be sufficient for all humanity. More than that, the tensions of a competitive socioeconomic system will be dissolved and peace of mind will be restored.
Life is like a journey in a vehicle between birth and death. The body is the vehicle in which you are motoring to death. The less luggage youcarry the better. Why encumber yourself with worldly riches and material comforts, when you may have to changeyour course or even meet with some dislocation or accident and, in any case, at the end of the journey you will have to leave behind all your possessions accept your Atma? Would it not be better to attend to the immortal spirit rather than waste time which is running out on gaining wealth and securing comforts?
This is the logic of spiritualism with which I seek to change the attitude of people.
Q: Baba has already clarified most of the issues raised by Dr. Narasimhiah and other critics. Some, however, remain unanswered. Narasimhiah askswhy you do not materialize a pumpkin or a cucumber or a watch with a distinct mark to prove that it is yourcreation and not a transfer of somebody else's manufacture?
Baba: Pumpkins and cucumbers can be materialized as easily as rings or objects. But these are perishable objects and the whole point of materialization, as I have already explained, lies in their permanence. That is why rings or watches become more serviceable as talismans or means of contact and communication, between the Avathar and his devotees.
The point they are trying to make is that big objects like pumpkins cannot be transferred while small ones like rings can be. But as I have repeatedly said, I do not transfer things by a sleight-of-hand. I create them to be talismans.
Now coming to your question about a ring or watch with a distinct mark to prove that it is My own creation, would you like Me to materialize something for you?
Q: Yes, Swamiji, I certainly would.
Baba waved his hand in the air to produce a silver ring bearing the inscription OM in the centre with Sai Ram marks on the sides and held My right hand to gently put it on the third finger. It was an exact fit and it was precisely what I wanted from Baba.
Q: Thank you, Baba, you have answered the question beautifully. Now to Narasimhiah's unanswered point regarding the bogus Sai Krishna or Pandavapura exposed by his committee as a fraud and a cheat. He alleges that the boy had your patronage.
Baba: I can assure you there is absolutely no connection between him and Myself. His people have several times attempted to arrange a meeting between us, but we have refused their requests. Of course, thousands of people, as you saw this morning, come here for darshan. There are others also who masquerade as My disciples or make money using My name. As this happens not only here but in other statesand even abroad, we cannot do anything about it. They expose themselves sooner or later, as did this boy. Ihave absolutely no connection or relationship with such people.
Q: The Narasimhiah Committee wanted to investigate your miracles scientifically under controlled conditions, as they put it. You rejected the proposal. Would you like to comment on this controversy?
Baba: How can science which is bound to a physical and materialist outlook investigate transcendental phenomena beyond its scope, reach orcomprehension? This is a fallacy on the face of it. One belongs to the material and the other to a spiritual plane. Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want tounderstand the nature of spiritual power you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. Whatscience has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena; it tends, however, to exaggerate its contribution.
Q: That is true, Swamiji, but science is developing all the time so that the metaphysics of yesterday become the physics of today.
Baba: Quite right, but it is still blind to the vast and invisible world of consciousness. The very fact that science is changing all the timeproves its incapacity to investigate the ultimate and absolute truth. Some time ago, scientists maintained thatthe atom cannot be broken, but recently they succeeded in breaking it. They are still ignorant about the realities of the pranic force behind the atom, which is the least of its components.
Science is merely a glow-worm in the light and splendor of the sun. It is true that it can research, discover and gather a lot of informationabout nature and its material functions and use it for the development of worldly things. Spiritualism, on theother hand, reigns over the cosmic field where science has no place. That is why some discoveries of science are useful while others can be disastrous.
As I have said before, Dr Narasimhiah and his group are like the Telugu men who go to the cinema to see a Tamil film. They will see only thedancing, the fighting and violence, the heroes and villains, the star with a beautiful face and these kinds ofsuperficial things, but they will lose the subtler aspects such as the music and the poetry, the plot, the dialogue, the jokes and the like.
However, as I have said again and again, those who want to understand Me are welcome here. It is the spirit of the investigation that isimportant. Foreign parapsychologists have come here and examined Me in such a positive and constructive spirit. Youhave seen their reports. They do not write letters or make public demands.
Narasimhiah's approach was improper; that is why I rejected it. If it were not so, he would have been welcome. I do not call people here so that they may bow to a God. I want them to come, see, hear, study, observe, experience and realize Baba. Then only, they will understand Me and appreciate the Avathar.
Q: Dr. Narasimhiah maintains that according to science, "Nothing can be created out of nothing." You have evidently negated this lawof science with a transcendental formula for controlling cosmic energy and producing paranormal power. Can you explainthis mystery?
Baba: The formula that nothing can be created out of nothing is appropriate to the limited field and dimensions of science. It does not at allapply to the transcendental field and dimensions of spirituality. In the latter field, anything can be createdby the supreme will. All that exists can be made to disappear and what does not exist can be made to appear.
Our history and tradition, scripture as well as literature, are full of such incidents which they call miracles. The material laws and formulas simply do not apply to divinity. For Me this is not a matter of any mystery or mystique. What I will, happens: what I order, materializes.
Q: The Vice-Chancellor appears to ridicule your statement that "There is God in us all." He asks: "Is this not pure escapism? How can God be so unsure of Himself?" Your rejoinder, please?
Baba: His questions contradict the very basis of Indian philosophy as well as that of most religions. All our scriptures assert that God ispresent in everyone. According to Vivekananda, "God is present in all." The only thing that is manifest and commonto the whole world and, in fact, governs and directs the entire universe, is divinity. Nothing else really exists except divinity.
Mine is no escapism but the fundamental and eternal truth. I say so not because I am unsure of My own divinity. It is My confidence in its absolute and total authenticity that makes Me affirm this fact. It is the scientists who are so unsure of themselves that they indulge in escapist theories.
For example, they say that the moon is lifeless. Simultaneously, they maintain that all matter consists of moving atoms. Now isn't the moon also a conglomerate of the same moving atoms? Then how can it be lifeless? There is no matter which does not consist of atoms, electrons, neutrons and protons, which are also constantly moving. This energy, too, is God.
So also there is no human being in whom there is no divinity. To say there is no God in man is like saying that there is no atom in the moon orany large lump of matter. The omnipresence of God has been described in our ancient texts as: "ano baniyammahatoo maniyam" (God is a small particle in the smallest of particles and a large mass in the largest of masses). In this context, how can one say that God is not in man?
Q: Another pertinent issue raised by your critics is that you show a preference for wealthy and powerful people as opposed to the poor and week in the matter of divine gifts, miracle cures and individual darshans. Is this true? If so, why?
Baba: This is wrong. I never see or make any distinction between the rich and the poor. I only look at them from the viewpoint of their devotion, their desires, the sacrifice they are willing to make and their troubles. You were here this morning and sawhundreds of people, a few rich, the majority poor. Did you find Me making any distinction? All those I brought with Me to this room were poor and weak, sick or troubled.
In My view, those who appear to the world as wealthy or powerful persons really bring to Me their troubled hearts and sick minds. I cure them by asking them to surrender material wealth and power to spiritual peace and grace.
Q: From what Baba has hitherto said, it appears that your mission is to enable mankind to rediscover and incarnate its lost godliness. Am I right?
Baba: You are right. When man turns inward to realize his true self, then God will become manifest to him. Self-realization is God-realization. In simple words, it is the realization that you are not just a body and mind with physical organs, but there is within you a self - the Atma that is God - distinct from these perishable things. This self is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. The comprehension of this truth puts you on the correct path to God-realization.
Q: So your objective can be summed up as a brotherhood of humanity to be achieved through the doctrine of love?
Baba: Yes, what else can save the world from thermonuclear fires? Everything points to the terror of conflagration coming; and My mission is to preempt the fires by reestablishing dharma and the spiritual law of one God, one religion, one language embracing one humanity.
I preach only one religion of love for all, which alone can integrate the human race into a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. I know only one language of the heart beyond the mind or the intellect which relates man to man and mankind to God, thereby creating mutual understanding, cooperation and community life in peace and harmony. On this basis I want to build one humanity withoutany religious, caste or other barriers in a universal empire of love which would enable My devotees to feel thewhole world as their family.
Q: Well said, Baba -- but wouldn't this dharma with its Hindu orientation conflict with the established religions?
Baba: No, it will not do anything of the kind because My objective is the establishment of sanathana dharma, which believes in one God aspropitiated by the founders of all religions. So none has to give up his religion or deity, but through them worshipthe one God in all. I have come not to disturb or destroy but to confirm and vindicate everyone in his own faith.
Q: But how will that prevent a nuclear holocaust?
Baba: By removing all causes, sources, barriers and provocations of class, caste, creed, color and race, and replacing the existing hate and violence with love and non-violence. I expect to provide humanity with an evangel of peaceful cooperation to replace the present escalation to death by co-destruction.
R.K.Karanjia: Thank you, Swamiji. I am all the more grateful to you because I really did not expect you to answer the whole long list of my questions.
OUR LIFE IS HIS MESSAGE
OMSAIRAMMM...
.
Life is a dream, realize it;
Life is a game, play it.
Q: Did Shirdi Baba actually claim that he would be born eight years after his death in 1918?
Baba: Yes, he did. This has been recorded by Kaka Dikshit as well as a number of other devotees who were with Shirdi Baba.
Q: What makes you so sure that you are Shirdi Baba incarnate?
Baba: The knowledge of My own authentic experience, of course. Since no one who knew Shirdi Baba is alive today, there is no evidence except My own knowledge and experience. The very fact that I announced that I am Shirdi Baba 40 years ago, when I was only 10 and when nobody in this part of the South had known or even heard of Shirdi Baba proves this fact.
Q: The existing situation driven by evil forces to destruction as you have correctly analyzed it, appears to suggest the inevitability of another Mahabharata-type (an epic relating to the battle of Kurukshetra) war. Does this mean that the salvation forwhich you are working can be consummated only after a destructive war?
Baba: The evil must and shall be removed before such a catastrophe takes place. There will be minor wars and skirmishes, of course: these cannot be helped in the existing state of affairs. The Mahabharata war was a different issue altogether. Lord Krishna decreed it and, in fact, led Arjuna to the battlefield in order to rid the world of evil men and ungodly forces.
Today, as I told you, the evil is so widespread that humanity itself would be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust in the event of a world war. It is to prevent such a catastrophe that this Avathar has come to raise human consciousness above the existing syndrome of anger, hate, violence and war and save the world from disaster. This can be achieved only by the reestablishment of the brotherhood of mankind though the Vedas, Shastras and all religions with their evangel of dharma to liberate the human race from the chains of karma (the cycle of birth and death). I always say: Let the different faiths exist, let them flourish, let the glory of God be sung in all the languages in a variety of tunes. They should be the ideal. Respect the differences between the faiths and recognize them as valid so far as they do not extinguish the flame of unity.
Q: From what Baba has said, it seems that there is not much difference or dichotomy between God and man. Am I right?
Baba: Quite right, God is man and man is God. All of us have something of God, the divine spark, within us. All men are divine like Myself, but with the spirit embodied in human flesh and bone. The only difference is that they are unaware of this Godhood. They have come into this karmic prison through the mistakes of many lives. I have taken this mortal form out of My own free will. They are bound to the body, while I am free of this bondage. The main difference is that they are shoved hither and thither by desire but I have no desire except the supreme one to make them desireless.
Take paddy or rice by way of an illustration. Every grain of rice is enclosed in a husk. You have to remove the husk to get the grain ofrice. Now husk and rice, both come from the same seed. Rice is the equivalent of God in man, while the husk can becompared to desire which reduces God to man. Therefore, My formula is:
LIFE + DESIRE = MAN
LIFE - DESIRE = GOD
Q: In what way can life without desire make Gods of men?
Baba: Life without desire means the realization of the pure, genuine self that is Atma. Bound to desire, the self degenerates intoselfishness. Atma turns into ego. The way of self-realization is to cleanse the self of this ego of selfishness. Then youreach a state of consciousness beyond the mind or intellect, revealing the true self that is God. The mind is like a cloth that covers andstifles consciousness, the threads of which are desires. If we give up the desires, the threads fall and the clothdisappears, revealing our true nature. That is what the Vedanta (epic of ancient wisdom and knowledge) means when it enjoins that one must get rid of the ego to realize oneself.
Q: You mean that the mind of man as such creates the block between man and God?
Baba: Yes. One must make a distinction between the mind that is the ego, and the real self that is consciousness. The latter helps us to cross the frontiers of the ego-mind and become aware of oneself as the witness of truth. Normally the scientist of the mind looks outside to what can be perceived by the senses existing in the world of the mind to ask: What is this? The scientist of consciousness, on the other hand, always looks inside to that which is beyond the senses or the grasp of the mind to ask: What is that?
One has, therefore, to rise beyond the mind to consciousness to achieve self-realization. To gain the infinite, universal Atma, the embodied selfmust break out of the puny, finite little prison of individuality. Desire belongs to the senses, the brain, the mind; once you become free of it, you realize the self, Atma, consciousness, enlightenment, and become one with the cosmic power. Self realization is God-realization. Thus man reaches God.
Q: What is the significance of the vibuthi (holy ash) and the trinkets that you materialize and give to people? Is there any need for a Godman to demonstrate such miracles which any magician can conjure?
Baba: So far as I am concerned this is evidence of My divinity. It is not by any means an exhibition of divinity. All performances of magic, asyou know are done for the sake of income. These are tricks of the magicians trade. They constitute a kind oflegalized cheating, the transfer of an object from one place to another by a trick of the hand which goes unnoticed. They involve no siddhi (occult power) or miraculous power.
What I do is quite a different act of creation. It is neither magic, nor is it siddhi power either. For one thing, I seek no return. For another, I do not cheat people by transferring objects, but I create them. Again, I do so not because of any need ordesire of exhibition of My powers. For Me this is a kind of calling card to convince people of My love for them and secure their devotion in return. Since love is formless, I do materialization as evidence of My love. It is merely a symbol.
Q : Still I do not understand why you should materialize rings, bracelets, watches and those kind of trinkets.
Baba: Most people desire talismans as symbolic of My protection. So I provide them. When they are in trouble they feel the grip of the ring, bracelet or watch to remember Me and call Me to their rescue so that I can help them. On the other hand, if I give them something they cannot wear, they are likely to store it and forget about it.
The main thing is that these trinkets or talismans, by whatever name you call them, give people a sense of security and protection they need in times of troubles or crises and create a symbolic link covering the long distances between them and Myself. When the devotees need Me, these objects flash the message as if by wireless and I instantly come to their rescue.
Q: I am sorry to be persistent, Swamiji, but isn't the gift of an Omega or HMT watch an act of cheating the company or breach of its patent?
Baba: I assure you there is no such thing. It would be cheating the company or breaching the patent if it were a case of transfer of the watch from one place to the other. But I do not transfer; I totally create. Whatever I will, instantly materializes. I know of no company that has complained about any breach of patent.
Q: What about vibuthi materialized by you? We would like to know its relevance because your critics are trying to discredit you by sending around magicians who produce exact replicas of vibuthi.
Baba: What I materialize is a manifestation of divinity with a potent significance as well as symbolism. It is symbolic of the cosmic, immortaland infinite nature of all forms of God, Atma or the spirit -- that is, what is left when everything worldly, transient and changeable has burnt away.
I have spoken to you of the imperative of a desireless life. After Shiva had burnt the God of desire, Kama, into a heap of ashes, he adorned himself with the ash to shine as the conqueror of desire. When Kama was destroyed, Prema reigned as the Goddess of love. Such is the significance of ash.
In the first place, it is symbolic of the life-death cycle in which everything ultimately reduces itself to ash. "For dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou returnest." Ash or dust is the final condition of things. It cannot undergo any further change. In the spiritual context, it constitutes a warning to the receiver to give up desire, to burn all passions, attachments and temptations, and makes one pure in thought, word and deed.
It is in order to press home this lesson that I materialize ash for those who come to Me with love and devotion. Like the other materializations, it also acts as a talisman, healing the sick and giving protection to those who need it. It is the symbol ofdivinity, quite different from the magician's trickery mentioned by you.
Q: You are believed to have performed miraculous cures to the extent of resurrecting the dead. There are cases where you reportedly saved peoplefrom drowning and other accidents in distant places. Medical experts have attested to remote controlledsurgical operations performed by you. How do you manage these?
Baba: By My own sankalpa -- that is, divine will and power. As an Avathar, this power is intrinsic, inherent, total and natural to My will anddecision. I need no mantra (mystical formula), no sadhana (spiritual practice), no tantra (sacred writings) andno yantra (pilgrimage) to perform the so-called miracles which are natural to My state. My powers are simply the expression or assertion of the reality of goodness which merges Me with everything, everywhere, at all times and places. The miracles belong to the boundless power of God.
Now coming to the main points of your question, this healing phenomena has a dual aspect. I can cure, save, even resurrect people provided theyare in a spiritually receptive condition. It is like the positive and negative currents of electricity. My capacity to heal can be compared to the positive current. Your devotion to Me is like the negative current. Once the two come together, the devotion provides what is called the miracle of healing.
It is man's mind that is really responsible for his illness or health. He himself is the cause or motivator of either. So when it comes tohealing or curing, the necessary faith has to be created within his mind for the purpose. All I do is invest himwith the confidence, will and power to cure himself. It is My abounding love reciprocated by the intensity of the devotee's faith in Me that produce the desired result.
Q: So these are not siddhic powers or magical tricks, as your critics suggest?
Baba: They are neither magical tricks nor siddhic (occult) powers, which can come to everybody with the appropriate discipline and yoga exercises, but My powers to protect, heal and save people and materialize objects originate in God and can be used only by an Avathar. They are in no way designed, disciplined or developed, but flow from cosmic power.
Q: Some say that you command invisible spirits which can transfer objects from one place to another on your orders.
Baba: There is no need for Me to command invisible spirits since My own divine will materializes the objects. I am everything, everywhere, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; and so whatever I will, instantly happens. Like the qualities of truth, love and peace, these are things that generate the atmic (godly) or cosmic forces behind the universe.
Q: Your followers at home as well as abroad claim positive evidence of the presence of Baba in their innermost hearts. Some have written of you as their in-dwelling God. What is the explanation of this phenomenon?
Baba: This is the grace begotten of My love for them reciprocated by their devotion. After all, as I repeatedly say, we all belong to the samedivine principle. The godliness which is present in everybody in the form of a little spark is present in Me asthe full flame, and it is My mission to develop every little spark of God in everyone to the fullness of the divine flame.
The first imperative of this development is that the receiver of the grace also provides from his or her side the devotion necessary to the consummation. Those who carry the presence of Baba in their hearts like an in-dwelling God belong to these kinds of devotees. They come to Me, see Me and hear Me, experience My love for them and receive it with devotion. Thus, they become part of Me and My divinity.
To the doubting or confused ones, I give this illustration. Those who want to secure pearls from the sea have to dive deep to fetch them. It doesnot help them to dabble among the shallow waves near the shore and say that the sea has no pearls and allstories about them are false. Likewise, if a person wants to secure the love and grace of this Avathar, he must also dive deep and get submerged in Sai Baba. Then, only, will he become one with Me and carry Me in his innermost heart.
Q: The critics of Swamiji ask why Sai Baba does not help people in distress by bringing rains in times of drought or creating food where there isfamine by means of his sankalpa shakti (divine power, universal energy). Cannot an Avathar help humanity tocontrol the natural forces and prevent calamities like earthquakes, floods, droughts, famine and epidemics?
Baba: This is precisely what I am doing by incarnating the in-dwelling God in man to overcome such calamities. There are two ways in which an Avathar can help people: an instant solution as against a long term one.
Any instant solution would go against the fundamental quality of nature itself as well against the karmic law of cause and effect. Most peoplelive in the material world of their desires and egos, which is governed by this law. They reap the fruits oftheir actions. This brings about their evolution or devolution. If the Avathar intervenes to instantly solve their problems, it would stop all action, development, even evolution. This solution can be ruled out because it totally negates the natural laws.
The other and more effective alternative presents a long-term solution whereby the Avathar leads the people themselves to a higher level ofconsciousness to enable them to understand the truth of spiritual laws so that they may turn towards righteousnessand steadfastly work for better conditions. This will relate them back to nature and the karmic law of causation. This would then transcend the cycle of cause and effect in which today they are involved as victims and thereby command and control the natural forces to be able to avert the calamities you mention.
Q: You mean that you are presently raising the consciousness of mankind to a godlike condition to enable them to command their own destiny?
Baba: Exactly. They would become shareholders of My sankalpa shakti (divine power, universal energy). I have to work through them, rouse thein-dwelling God in them and evolve them to a higher reality in order to enable them to master the natural law andforces. If I cure everything instantly, leaving the people at their present levels of consciousness, they would soon mess up things and be at one another's throats again with the result that the same chaotic situation would develop in the world.
Suffering and misery are the inescapable acts of the cosmic drama. God does not decree these calamities but man invites them by way ofretribution for his own evil deeds. This is corrective punishment which induces mankind to give up the wrong path andreturn to the right path so that he may experience the godlike condition of sat-chit-ananda -- that is, an existence of wisdom and bliss. All this is part of the grand synthesis in which the negatives serve to glorify the positives. Thus death glorifies immortality, ignorance glorifies wisdom, misery glorifies bliss, night glorifies dawn.
So, finally, if the Avathar brings the calamities mentioned by you to an immediate end, which I can do, and do, when there is a great need, thewhole drama of creation with its karmic (universal, inescapable duty) law will collapse. Remember, thesecalamities occur not because of what God has made of man but really because of what man has made of man. Therefore, man has to be unmade and remade with his ego destroyed and replaced by a transcendent consciousness so that he may rise above the karmic to command.
Q: Have you succeeded in bringing about this synthesis, Swamiji, particularly with the wealthy and powerful classes?
Baba: I have not reached all of them as a class, but to the extent that I am able to contact them individually, the results are encouraging. Thewealthy and powerful, of course, present a difficult problem in the matter of transformation. They need aspecial approach. The poor people, on the other hand, are very cooperative. They understand, appreciate and help My plans and ideas.
Q: What is the solution to this escalating conflict between wealth and power on one side, and poverty and weakness on the other?
Baba: The transformation of both into a single cooperative brotherhood on terms of equality without competition or conflict. This can result only from truth and love. The main issue is to fuse the two classes into one single class. The problem, however, is one of bringing them together on a common base or platform. Wealthy people live isolated in a certain state or condition. The poor also are similarly isolated in another state or condition. How do we bring them together?
I do so in many subtle ways by breaking the barriers of wealth and poverty and creating a feeling of equality and oneness between the poor and the rich. In this ashram (spiritual community) you find them living and working together, even performing menial labor on terms of complete equality. Here there are no distinctions whatever, nor any special facilities for the rich. They live, eat, work, worship and sleep like the poor. All live like a community of workers to share the common austerities of the ashram.
Despite our rigorous discipline, industrialists and businessmen want to come here. Why? Because they secure peace of mind beyond physical comfort which no wealth or power on earth can purchase or provide.
Thus we open to them a wonderful new world of spiritual treasures and they must sacrifice material wants and comforts. My mission is to show them the way to peace of mind which everybody, rich and poor alike, desires. In that process of spiritual evolution, the seeker learns that this blissful state cannot be purchased for money in a shop or gifted to one by anybody but oneself. It can come only from the universal source of divinity, the in-dwelling God that embraces poor and rich alike. This concept creates a common fellowship, a brother hood of give and take between the wealthy and the poor. Those who have too much are obliged to give up their unnecessary wants, while those who have too little get their needs fulfilled.
After all, in spiritual terms, all mankind belongs to one and the same class, caste or religion. The divine principles in each and all of them derive from one and the same God. This fundamental oneness has to be made manifest to them through direct contact with spiritual realities and the persuasive expanding power of love, till they become part of the universal religion of work, worship and wisdom.
Q: All this would be simple and welcome evangel for the poor since they lose nothing and gain everything from your philosophy, but what about the rich who have to lose all if they followed it?
Baba: That is the crux of the problem. They simply have to lose, surrender, submerge their false values if they want My grace. So long as peoplecontinue to be slaves of materialistic definitions of wealth and poverty, there can be no solution. I, therefore, try to convert their minds and hearts to spiritual values and truths.
After all, who is the richest man? One who has the largest wants and, therefore, troubles and worries? Or one who is satisfied with the barestnecessities of life and, therefore, is more or less desireless and comparatively happy? Judged from thiscriterion of happiness, the poor are spiritually rich but the rich are spiritually poor. It is not material but spiritual satisfaction that ultimately makes life worth living.
As I have said before, life without desire brings divinity to man; and those who seek My grace must shed desire and greed. Riches provide a fatal temptation. They are the source and cause of human bondage. The desire to raise the standard of life can never be satisfied. It leads to multiplication of wants and consequent troubles and frustrations.
The solution lies in our emphasis on the quality as against the standard of life, on high thinking and lowly living. The mind is the horse, thebody the cart: to achieve mental peace, you must put the horse of high thinking before the cart of physicalcomfort.
Q: This is sound philosophy but how do you implement it in action?
Baba: The rich as well as the poor come to Sai Baba to seek love, peace and liberation from their problems and troubles. My prescription to themis absolute selflessness and desirelessness. To the poor, this is a natural state or condition. So My loveflows to them to embrace their devotion. Thus they obtain My grace.
The rich, on the other hand, cannot secure this grace without surrendering their materialistic outlook and selfish attachments. So it becomes obligatory for them to sacrifice material greed to receive spiritual grace. I tell them:
Ego lives by getting and forgetting,
Love lives by giving and forgiving.
In this way, I change their mental attitude. I transform their monkey-minds into loving, giving and forgiving minds.
Q: Monkey-minds, Baba -- what do you mean?
Baba: It is a kind of mentality that is used by peasants to trap and destroy monkeys. When the peasant wants to catch a monkey, he uses a big pot with a narrow mouth as a trap. Inside the pot he puts edibles which the monkey loves. The monkey finds the pot and puts its paws inside to grasp as much of the stuff as it can hold. Once it does so, it is unable to pull out its paws from the small mouthof the pot. It imagines that someone inside the pot is holding its paws, so it struggles and attempts to runaway with the pot, only to fail and get trapped. No one is holding the monkey; it has trapped itself because of its greed. If only it lets the stuff in its paws go, it will be free of bondage.
In the same way I tell rich people, man is tempted by the wealth, pleasures and desires of the world. When he gets lost in such attachment andsuffers the consequences of greed, he thinks that something is binding him down, capturing him, destroying him. The moment he gives up material wealth and desires, he will be free. I make him realize his bondage to the monkey-mind and liberate himself.
Q: Baba seems to be prescribing a kind of spiritual socialism based on the conversion of wealth into a trusteeship for the removal of poverty.
Baba: Yes, a trusteeship based on love, cooperation and brotherhood. What else can one do? The change must evolve from the heart; it cannot beimposed from outside. All materialist doctrines have failed to bring about any real transformation. There is noequality anywhere. Only spiritual transformation into a desireless mentality can put through the imperative revolution in human consciousness from which alone the desired changes can accrue.
We need to transform society from false to real values. We have to convince people that the ideal of a high standard of life is wrong. It must bereplaced with a high level of living and thinking on the basis of humility, morality, compassion anddetachment, as against the existing greed for competitive luxury and conspicuous consumption. People have to be convinced that the only way to rouse the latent divinity in them is to master desires and conquer greed for pleasure and luxury instead of being a slave to these false materialistic values.
Q: Then I take it that the various educational and social service organizations run by Baba -- some 3,000 in all -- are designed to create the cadres necessary for bringing about the desired socioeconomic change by means of love and persuasion?
Baba: They are designed to put the new generation on the Sai path of truth, righteousness, peace, love and nonviolence. Their motto -- work is worship and duty is God -- seeks to bring in the new social order related to Sathya -- that is, truth, and dharma -- namely, right action.
Q: India has been described as a rich country of poor people. We have the wealth of the whole world locked up in the bosom of our good earth. And yet the people remain economically poor and backward. Have you any solution to rehabilitate our economy?
Baba: Your analysis is correct. The solution to the problem you have posed lies in hard work and increased production on a cooperative basis. Toachieve this, one has to rid people of the disease of individuality, greed and selfishness. Every individualmust be taught to think and work in the broader concept of society and its needs. Once that is done, there will be less talk and more work.
Here again, it is the spiritual path that can save this country and the world from the wrongs of a materialistic order. What we need is asynthesis of the spiritual and material aspects of life. That will provide man with the social conscience andcooperative spirit imperative to the creation of national wealth and prosperity through selfless, cooperative labor.
Q: Very good counsel, Swamiji - but the trouble is that all the wealth created by labor appears to find its way into the pockets of a rich and powerful minority. Have you a spiritual prescription for this inequality?
Baba: There is no doubt that the distribution is not taking place properly. The existing doctrines of equality, socialism, etc., have not succeeded in achieving equality in distribution of wealth and property. The difficulty is that you equalize, wealth, land and property by legalization, but can the law bring about equality in the desires of the people? This requires the healing touch of spiritualism.
To begin with, one has to cure desire and its evil consequences. We must persuade the rich that desire and its fulfillment in materialistic wants is an aspect of the monkey-mind which can only harm them and put them under bondage. That alone will solve the problem of inequality and maldistribution.
The rich will give up their extravagant wants, the poor will get what they need and a little more; and this process will bring about more equitable distribution.
Q: To conclude this section, Swamiji, would you sum up the main causes of India's social and economic backwardness?
Baba: From a purely material viewpoint, it is a question of supply and demand. Because of the overpowering material values of our society, the demand is growing larger and larger, while the supply remains the same or decreases. The solution, obviously, is to increase the supply or decrease the demand. Then, of course, there is the problem of growing population. This triangular issue of economic imbalance needs to be spiritualised if an effective solution is to be found.
It is here that our insistence on a desireless life, in which human wants are reduced to the minimum needs, comes to the rescue as the onlypossible way of restoring the social and economic balance. Curb your desires, reduce your wants, live in spiritualausterity, and the available material will be sufficient for all humanity. More than that, the tensions of a competitive socioeconomic system will be dissolved and peace of mind will be restored.
Life is like a journey in a vehicle between birth and death. The body is the vehicle in which you are motoring to death. The less luggage youcarry the better. Why encumber yourself with worldly riches and material comforts, when you may have to changeyour course or even meet with some dislocation or accident and, in any case, at the end of the journey you will have to leave behind all your possessions accept your Atma? Would it not be better to attend to the immortal spirit rather than waste time which is running out on gaining wealth and securing comforts?
This is the logic of spiritualism with which I seek to change the attitude of people.
Q: Baba has already clarified most of the issues raised by Dr. Narasimhiah and other critics. Some, however, remain unanswered. Narasimhiah askswhy you do not materialize a pumpkin or a cucumber or a watch with a distinct mark to prove that it is yourcreation and not a transfer of somebody else's manufacture?
Baba: Pumpkins and cucumbers can be materialized as easily as rings or objects. But these are perishable objects and the whole point of materialization, as I have already explained, lies in their permanence. That is why rings or watches become more serviceable as talismans or means of contact and communication, between the Avathar and his devotees.
The point they are trying to make is that big objects like pumpkins cannot be transferred while small ones like rings can be. But as I have repeatedly said, I do not transfer things by a sleight-of-hand. I create them to be talismans.
Now coming to your question about a ring or watch with a distinct mark to prove that it is My own creation, would you like Me to materialize something for you?
Q: Yes, Swamiji, I certainly would.
Baba waved his hand in the air to produce a silver ring bearing the inscription OM in the centre with Sai Ram marks on the sides and held My right hand to gently put it on the third finger. It was an exact fit and it was precisely what I wanted from Baba.
Q: Thank you, Baba, you have answered the question beautifully. Now to Narasimhiah's unanswered point regarding the bogus Sai Krishna or Pandavapura exposed by his committee as a fraud and a cheat. He alleges that the boy had your patronage.
Baba: I can assure you there is absolutely no connection between him and Myself. His people have several times attempted to arrange a meeting between us, but we have refused their requests. Of course, thousands of people, as you saw this morning, come here for darshan. There are others also who masquerade as My disciples or make money using My name. As this happens not only here but in other statesand even abroad, we cannot do anything about it. They expose themselves sooner or later, as did this boy. Ihave absolutely no connection or relationship with such people.
Q: The Narasimhiah Committee wanted to investigate your miracles scientifically under controlled conditions, as they put it. You rejected the proposal. Would you like to comment on this controversy?
Baba: How can science which is bound to a physical and materialist outlook investigate transcendental phenomena beyond its scope, reach orcomprehension? This is a fallacy on the face of it. One belongs to the material and the other to a spiritual plane. Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want tounderstand the nature of spiritual power you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. Whatscience has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena; it tends, however, to exaggerate its contribution.
Q: That is true, Swamiji, but science is developing all the time so that the metaphysics of yesterday become the physics of today.
Baba: Quite right, but it is still blind to the vast and invisible world of consciousness. The very fact that science is changing all the timeproves its incapacity to investigate the ultimate and absolute truth. Some time ago, scientists maintained thatthe atom cannot be broken, but recently they succeeded in breaking it. They are still ignorant about the realities of the pranic force behind the atom, which is the least of its components.
Science is merely a glow-worm in the light and splendor of the sun. It is true that it can research, discover and gather a lot of informationabout nature and its material functions and use it for the development of worldly things. Spiritualism, on theother hand, reigns over the cosmic field where science has no place. That is why some discoveries of science are useful while others can be disastrous.
As I have said before, Dr Narasimhiah and his group are like the Telugu men who go to the cinema to see a Tamil film. They will see only thedancing, the fighting and violence, the heroes and villains, the star with a beautiful face and these kinds ofsuperficial things, but they will lose the subtler aspects such as the music and the poetry, the plot, the dialogue, the jokes and the like.
However, as I have said again and again, those who want to understand Me are welcome here. It is the spirit of the investigation that isimportant. Foreign parapsychologists have come here and examined Me in such a positive and constructive spirit. Youhave seen their reports. They do not write letters or make public demands.
Narasimhiah's approach was improper; that is why I rejected it. If it were not so, he would have been welcome. I do not call people here so that they may bow to a God. I want them to come, see, hear, study, observe, experience and realize Baba. Then only, they will understand Me and appreciate the Avathar.
Q: Dr. Narasimhiah maintains that according to science, "Nothing can be created out of nothing." You have evidently negated this lawof science with a transcendental formula for controlling cosmic energy and producing paranormal power. Can you explainthis mystery?
Baba: The formula that nothing can be created out of nothing is appropriate to the limited field and dimensions of science. It does not at allapply to the transcendental field and dimensions of spirituality. In the latter field, anything can be createdby the supreme will. All that exists can be made to disappear and what does not exist can be made to appear.
Our history and tradition, scripture as well as literature, are full of such incidents which they call miracles. The material laws and formulas simply do not apply to divinity. For Me this is not a matter of any mystery or mystique. What I will, happens: what I order, materializes.
Q: The Vice-Chancellor appears to ridicule your statement that "There is God in us all." He asks: "Is this not pure escapism? How can God be so unsure of Himself?" Your rejoinder, please?
Baba: His questions contradict the very basis of Indian philosophy as well as that of most religions. All our scriptures assert that God ispresent in everyone. According to Vivekananda, "God is present in all." The only thing that is manifest and commonto the whole world and, in fact, governs and directs the entire universe, is divinity. Nothing else really exists except divinity.
Mine is no escapism but the fundamental and eternal truth. I say so not because I am unsure of My own divinity. It is My confidence in its absolute and total authenticity that makes Me affirm this fact. It is the scientists who are so unsure of themselves that they indulge in escapist theories.
For example, they say that the moon is lifeless. Simultaneously, they maintain that all matter consists of moving atoms. Now isn't the moon also a conglomerate of the same moving atoms? Then how can it be lifeless? There is no matter which does not consist of atoms, electrons, neutrons and protons, which are also constantly moving. This energy, too, is God.
So also there is no human being in whom there is no divinity. To say there is no God in man is like saying that there is no atom in the moon orany large lump of matter. The omnipresence of God has been described in our ancient texts as: "ano baniyammahatoo maniyam" (God is a small particle in the smallest of particles and a large mass in the largest of masses). In this context, how can one say that God is not in man?
Q: Another pertinent issue raised by your critics is that you show a preference for wealthy and powerful people as opposed to the poor and week in the matter of divine gifts, miracle cures and individual darshans. Is this true? If so, why?
Baba: This is wrong. I never see or make any distinction between the rich and the poor. I only look at them from the viewpoint of their devotion, their desires, the sacrifice they are willing to make and their troubles. You were here this morning and sawhundreds of people, a few rich, the majority poor. Did you find Me making any distinction? All those I brought with Me to this room were poor and weak, sick or troubled.
In My view, those who appear to the world as wealthy or powerful persons really bring to Me their troubled hearts and sick minds. I cure them by asking them to surrender material wealth and power to spiritual peace and grace.
Q: From what Baba has hitherto said, it appears that your mission is to enable mankind to rediscover and incarnate its lost godliness. Am I right?
Baba: You are right. When man turns inward to realize his true self, then God will become manifest to him. Self-realization is God-realization. In simple words, it is the realization that you are not just a body and mind with physical organs, but there is within you a self - the Atma that is God - distinct from these perishable things. This self is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. The comprehension of this truth puts you on the correct path to God-realization.
Q: So your objective can be summed up as a brotherhood of humanity to be achieved through the doctrine of love?
Baba: Yes, what else can save the world from thermonuclear fires? Everything points to the terror of conflagration coming; and My mission is to preempt the fires by reestablishing dharma and the spiritual law of one God, one religion, one language embracing one humanity.
I preach only one religion of love for all, which alone can integrate the human race into a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. I know only one language of the heart beyond the mind or the intellect which relates man to man and mankind to God, thereby creating mutual understanding, cooperation and community life in peace and harmony. On this basis I want to build one humanity withoutany religious, caste or other barriers in a universal empire of love which would enable My devotees to feel thewhole world as their family.
Q: Well said, Baba -- but wouldn't this dharma with its Hindu orientation conflict with the established religions?
Baba: No, it will not do anything of the kind because My objective is the establishment of sanathana dharma, which believes in one God aspropitiated by the founders of all religions. So none has to give up his religion or deity, but through them worshipthe one God in all. I have come not to disturb or destroy but to confirm and vindicate everyone in his own faith.
Q: But how will that prevent a nuclear holocaust?
Baba: By removing all causes, sources, barriers and provocations of class, caste, creed, color and race, and replacing the existing hate and violence with love and non-violence. I expect to provide humanity with an evangel of peaceful cooperation to replace the present escalation to death by co-destruction.
R.K.Karanjia: Thank you, Swamiji. I am all the more grateful to you because I really did not expect you to answer the whole long list of my questions.
OUR LIFE IS HIS MESSAGE
OMSAIRAMMM...
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