Actualizado el 30 de julio de 2018
¿Dios / Guru necesita nuestras oraciones / cartas?
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba o Swami ha sido alabado y adorado como Guru y Dios por millones. Considero mi gran fortuna singular que llegué a conocerlo bastante temprano en mi infancia y lo acepté como mi Guru y Dios. De hecho, se convirtió en la deidad de mi familia a través de un episodio extraño pero profundo en la vida de mi tío.
Entre las varias prácticas únicas que observan los devotos de Swami, una son las cartas que le escriben. Escribir cartas a Swami era y es una práctica muy común entre los devotos. Ellos derraman sus corazones -sus alegrías, sus penas, sus problemas y su gratitud- en este pedazo de papel y se lo entregan a Swami durante sus rondas de Darshan , cuando camina entre los devotos por la mañana y por la tarde. Darshan literalmente significa "visión del santo" y todos los devotos creemos que el solo hecho de estar en presencia y de ver a Swami es edificante y espiritualmente beneficioso, y por lo tanto, el término especial, Darshan. Antes de su partida física del mundo, Swami mismo recogía estas cartas 'al azar' de los devotos. Se considera un golpe de suerte si uno puede entregarle personalmente una carta.
Pero la pregunta que surge es que si el Gurú está al tanto de todo, ¿por qué necesita nuestras cartas? Y ahora que ya no está presente en lo físico, ¿tiene sentido incluso escribirle cartas a Él más?
La experiencia de Amey Deshpande, ex alumno del programa de MBA en el Instituto de Educación Superior Sri Sathya Sai, es reveladora y perspicaz en este sentido.
El programa anual de escritura de cartas
Amey tenía una práctica única para escribir cartas. Él escribiría una carta a su Swami solo una vez al año, en su cumpleaños, el 23 de diciembre. Él sintió y supo que no había nada de lo que Swami no tenga conocimiento. Lo recordaría así y se abstendría de escribirle cartas a Swami. Sin embargo, su sentimiento era escribir esa carta individual anualmente, sobre su cumpleaños, e intentar ofrecérsela a Swami. Aparte de eso, también le daba a Swami una ventana de oportunidad muy corta para aceptar esa carta, solo una sesión de darshan . Si Swami no aceptaba la carta durante esa sesión, a diferencia de la mayoría de los demás, no llevaría la misma carta al día siguiente. Simplemente lo rompería y lo arrojaría al cubo de la basura con la sensación ...
"¡Swami lo sabe todo de todos modos!"
Una charla que cambió el programa de escritura de cartas.
Esa misma noche, cuando Amey se instalo para sus estudios en el albergue, recibió una llamada del intercomunicador de uno de sus compañeros de clase en busca de alguna aclaración académica. Incapaz de despejar la duda por el teléfono, decidió subir a su habitación y ayudarlo. En el camino, escuchó a uno de los profesores, el Dr. M Sainath, compartir una experiencia personal con unos pocos estudiantes en el pasillo. Mientras pasaba junto al grupo, sus oídos captaron una declaración que le intereso. Esa frase fue:
"Entonces, la pregunta es, ¿deberíamos escribir cartas a Swami cuando Él sabe todo?"
El maestro continuó compartiendo una experiencia con Swami durante sus días de estudiante, momentos en los que compartió el privilegio de quedarse con Swami junto con algunos otros como "Su asistente". Nosotros, devotos, sabemos que como "asistentes" no ayudamos a Swami de ninguna manera, sino que tenemos el privilegio único y la oportunidad de observar al Avatar desde cerca y aprender de su vida. El maestro estaba recordando feliz acerca de uno de esos episodios esclarecedores.
"Entonces, la pregunta es, ¿deberíamos escribir cartas a Swami cuando Él sabe todo?"
El maestro continuó compartiendo una experiencia con Swami durante sus días de estudiante, momentos en los que compartió el privilegio de quedarse con Swami junto con algunos otros como "Su asistente". Nosotros, devotos, sabemos que como "asistentes" no ayudamos a Swami de ninguna manera, sino que tenemos el privilegio único y la oportunidad de observar al Avatar desde cerca y aprender de su vida. El maestro estaba recordando feliz acerca de uno de esos episodios esclarecedores.
La narrativa del maestro
"Por la gracia de Swami, tuvimos la oportunidad de dormir justo fuera de su habitación, como 'servicio de seguridad'. Una noche, antes de que pudiéramos dormir, dos de nosotros entramos en un debate. El debate fue sobre si uno tiene que escribir cartas a Swami que conoce todos y cada uno de los pensamientos o sentimientos que se transmiten a través de nosotros. Si bien me opuse firmemente al hecho de escribir cartas, el otro muchacho estaba fuertemente a favor de que si Swami mismo aceptaba cartas, ¿por qué no escribirlas? No había fin para este debate y la última moderadora esa noche fue Nidra Devi, la diosa del sueño, en cuyos brazos nos sumergimos.
A la mañana siguiente, estaba de pie en la habitación de Swami y Swami estaba sentado en la silla, examinando la enorme pila de cartas que había recibido de los devotos. Vi algo muy extraño. Swami simplemente miraba una carta y la descartaba en el cubo de la basura. Él abriría algunas, sin duda, pero tales cartas eran muy pocas. La mayoría de ellas las metia en el basurero incluso sin que Él las abriera. Eso me sorprendió y pensé:
"Los devotos escriben con tanto amor y fe. Y aquí está Swami arrojando las cartas al basurero sin siquiera mirarlas. ¡Que injusto! ¡Bueno, esa es otra razón por la cual es mejor no escribirle cartas a Él! "
Pensé que definitivamente iba a reportar esto al otro chico y probar mi punto. Incluso mientras estos pensamientos llenaban mi cabeza, Swami me miró y preguntó:
"¡Sí! ¿Qué estás pensando? ¡
Dios mío! Fuí atrapado. ¡Él sabía!
"Nada Swami ... solo verte", le respondí. "Ven aquí." La voz era muy cariñosa pero firme. "Te estás preguntando qué está haciendo Swami con estas cartas ¿verdad?" Me llamó cerca y me dijo que recogiera una carta del enorme bulto que se había amontonado frente a él. Luego me dijo que me alejara, que abriera el sobre sellado y que leyera el contenido de la carta yo solo. Cuando terminé de leer la carta, comenzó a hablar: "¿Qué dice ese bengalí Babu? Su hija estuvo muy enferma hace meses. Él había venido aquí para buscar mis bendiciones. Le di vibhuti para la hija. Hoy ella está bien y él está expresando su gratitud ... "
¡No podría haber resumido mejor la carta ! Swami sonrió. Le pregunté: "Swami, ¿entonces de qué sirve escribir cartas para ti? Tú lo sabes todo "."
Entonces me di cuenta de mi locura. Cuando escribo una carta a Swami, no es por él, sino por mí. Lo veo mal cuando pienso por qué Swami necesita mi carta. No es Swami quien necesita mi carta. ¡Soy yo quien necesita mi carta a Swami! Y es por nuestra necesidad que Swami acepta cartas y oraciones, ¡no las Suyas! Él no necesita ninguna información de nosotros. Él lo sabe todo. Continuaré escribiéndole cartas para siempre porque me beneficia inmensamente poner cosas en papel y ponerme en contacto con Swami a través de esa acción.
Después de que Swami me lo contó y me palmeó cariñosamente la cabeza, volví a mi lugar y continué parado allí. Continuó revisando las cartas, tirando la mayoría de ellas directamente al basurero, leyendo algunas aquí y allá. Mi corazón estaba totalmente cambiado ahora. En lugar de preguntarme por qué no estaba leyendo tantas cartas, ¡ahora me preguntaba por qué necesitaba leer solo unas pocas! Y obtuve la misma respuesta: no necesitaba leerlas; lo necesitábamos
¡Nada que el Sadguru haga es para Su beneficio!
Inspiración para otra carta
Al escuchar esta narrativa, Amey olvidó la tarea que tenía entre manos, despejar las dudas de su compañero de clase. Algunas de sus dudas acababan de despejarse y se sorprendió con una inspiración. Él decidió actuar de inmediato sobre esa inspiración.
Inspirado en la experiencia de su maestro, Amey regresó a su habitación y decidió resucitar su carta descartada. ¡No! No tomó los trozos de papel del cubo de basura y los pegó. En cambio, volvió a escribir la misma carta. Fue una tarea fácil porque cada año escribía, más o menos, las mismas líneas. Por lo tanto, en cuestión de minutos, la pluma entró en contacto con el papel y la carta se derramó de su corazón.
Amado Maestro,
me ofrezco a tus pies de loto, querido Bhagavan. Me trajiste a este mundo para descubrir el rompecabezas de la vida. Te has convertido en mi maestro que también me va a rescatar.
Déjame entender que eres el cable tractor divino de mi vida. Déjame amarte más y más en cada momento.
Por favor conviértete en el pensador de mis pensamientos.
Por favor, conviértete en el hacedor de mis obras.
Por favor conviértete en el orador de mis palabras.
Guíame. Guárdame Protegeme.
Tú eres yo y yo soy tú.
Déjame darme cuenta de quien soy. Oh Señor.
Bendíceme este día.
Tu amado hijo y estudiante Ameya Deshpande.
Después de escribir esta carta, decidió ofrecérsela a Swami al día siguiente.
Amado Maestro,
me ofrezco a tus pies de loto, querido Bhagavan. Me trajiste a este mundo para descubrir el rompecabezas de la vida. Te has convertido en mi maestro que también me va a rescatar.
Déjame entender que eres el cable tractor divino de mi vida. Déjame amarte más y más en cada momento.
Por favor conviértete en el pensador de mis pensamientos.
Por favor, conviértete en el hacedor de mis obras.
Por favor conviértete en el orador de mis palabras.
Guíame. Guárdame Protegeme.
Tú eres yo y yo soy tú.
Déjame darme cuenta de quien soy. Oh Señor.
Bendíceme este día.
Tu amado hijo y estudiante Ameya Deshpande.
Después de escribir esta carta, decidió ofrecérsela a Swami al día siguiente.
Un largo viaje para una pequeña carta.
Pero los planes de Swami parecían ser diferentes. Olvídate de poder darle la carta al día siguiente, durante semanas después de eso también, la carta no fue aceptada. Pero la inspiración de Amey no era para morirse. Se había transformado lentamente y se había convertido en Shraddha y Saburi , fe y paciencia, las dos cualidades favoritas que Dios busca en el devoto.
La hoja de papel se volvió amarilla con el tiempo (y el sudor de las palmas de Amey). Pero eso no impidió que se lo ofreciera a Swami a diario durante unas 2-3 horas durante el darshan y sesiones de darshan extendidas . Pero cuando el periódico se puso demasiado amarillento y deshilachado, lo rompió y volvió a escribirlo en un papel nuevo. ¡La carta también parecía pasar por el ciclo de nacimiento y muerte hasta que cumplió su objetivo final de alcanzar a Dios!
Pasaron tres meses y la carta todavía estaba con Amey.
La carta que Amey le escribió a Swami
13 de marzo de 2008: el día emblemático
Fue como cualquier otro día. Amey se sentó en la sala bhajan con los otros miembros del grupo bhajan . Todavía estaba sosteniendo su carta, ¡la cuarta 'reimpresión' de la carta en realidad! Estaba en la quinta línea y Swami había entrado en la sala de bhajans unos quince minutos antes de que los bhajans realmente hubieran comenzado. Estaba interactuando con algunos estudiantes y profesores en el frente.
De repente, Swami miró a Amey y le preguntó:
"Muchacho, ¿cómo está tu padre?"
Habiéndose acostumbrado a ser "descuidado" durante meses, Amey no estaba seguro de que Swami le estuviera hablando. Él se sentó en su lugar. Swami repitió,
"¿Cómo está tu padre?"
Ahora estaba seguro de que Swami estaba hablando con él. Reflexionó sobre el significado de lo que estaba diciendo. Sintió que era uno de estos casos:
1. Swami lo había visto sosteniendo la carta por tanto tiempo y por lo tanto estaba "pensando" que tal vez su padre estaba enfermo.
2. Su padre estaba enfermo y Swami le indicaba esto.
Sin embargo, en lugar de perderse en pensamientos, inmediatamente se levantó de su lugar y se acercó a Swami que estaba sentado en la silla en la sala bhajan. Swami inmediatamente aceptó su carta. Él le preguntó de nuevo,
"¿Cómo está tu padre?"
"Swami, ya sabes ... (¡No tengo ni idea)!"
Swami agitó su mano y materializó vibhuti y se lo dio a Amey.
"Envía esto a tu padre".
Amey estuvo inmediatamente a gusto. Sabía que ya no tenía que preocuparse por su padre. Cualquiera sea el problema, Swami ya se había ocupado de eso.
De repente, Swami miró a Amey y le preguntó:
"Muchacho, ¿cómo está tu padre?"
Habiéndose acostumbrado a ser "descuidado" durante meses, Amey no estaba seguro de que Swami le estuviera hablando. Él se sentó en su lugar. Swami repitió,
"¿Cómo está tu padre?"
Ahora estaba seguro de que Swami estaba hablando con él. Reflexionó sobre el significado de lo que estaba diciendo. Sintió que era uno de estos casos:
1. Swami lo había visto sosteniendo la carta por tanto tiempo y por lo tanto estaba "pensando" que tal vez su padre estaba enfermo.
2. Su padre estaba enfermo y Swami le indicaba esto.
Sin embargo, en lugar de perderse en pensamientos, inmediatamente se levantó de su lugar y se acercó a Swami que estaba sentado en la silla en la sala bhajan. Swami inmediatamente aceptó su carta. Él le preguntó de nuevo,
"¿Cómo está tu padre?"
"Swami, ya sabes ... (¡No tengo ni idea)!"
Swami agitó su mano y materializó vibhuti y se lo dio a Amey.
"Envía esto a tu padre".
Amey estuvo inmediatamente a gusto. Sabía que ya no tenía que preocuparse por su padre. Cualquiera sea el problema, Swami ya se había ocupado de eso.
Dios sabe todo. ¡Y es por eso que Él anima a escribir cartas!
Swami ahora abrió la carta y comenzó a leerla. Leyó cada línea de la carta y comenzó a asentir con la cabeza como si escuchara a Amey hablando. Amey también, por su parte, comenzó a repetir mentalmente la carta porque sabía todo el contenido de memoria.
Swami de repente pareció detenerse en un punto en particular. Amey, que estaba leyendo mentalmente la carta, también se detuvo. La declaración fue:
Tú eres yo y yo soy Tú.
Swami ahora le dio la vuelta a Amey. Él subrayó esa declaración con su dedo. Él dijo:
"Atesora y fomenta este sentimiento y la Verdad en tu corazón. Es suficiente".
Luego le dio unas palmaditas a Amey y lo envió de vuelta a su lugar entre los estudiantes del grupo Bhajan. Volvió a guardar la carta en su bolsillo para que la apreciara como un recuerdo de esta hermosa lección. (Esa es la carta presentada en la imagen de arriba.) Pronto comenzaron los bhajans y Amey simplemente no pudo evitar sentir el abrumador amor de Swami. Simplemente no entendía por qué lo sentía, pero simplemente lo sentía. No es de extrañar que parecía haber algo de melodía divina añadida en el bhajan que cantó ese día.
Swami de repente pareció detenerse en un punto en particular. Amey, que estaba leyendo mentalmente la carta, también se detuvo. La declaración fue:
Tú eres yo y yo soy Tú.
Swami ahora le dio la vuelta a Amey. Él subrayó esa declaración con su dedo. Él dijo:
"Atesora y fomenta este sentimiento y la Verdad en tu corazón. Es suficiente".
Luego le dio unas palmaditas a Amey y lo envió de vuelta a su lugar entre los estudiantes del grupo Bhajan. Volvió a guardar la carta en su bolsillo para que la apreciara como un recuerdo de esta hermosa lección. (Esa es la carta presentada en la imagen de arriba.) Pronto comenzaron los bhajans y Amey simplemente no pudo evitar sentir el abrumador amor de Swami. Simplemente no entendía por qué lo sentía, pero simplemente lo sentía. No es de extrañar que parecía haber algo de melodía divina añadida en el bhajan que cantó ese día.
La línea resaltada ...
Pensamientos de cierre
Definitivamente es cierto que Dios no necesita nuestra comunicación. Pero hay algo mágico al escribir una carta a Dios. ¡Durante ese acto, logramos la rara unidad en pensamiento, palabra y acción! ¡Nuestros pensamientos para y de Dios, se traducen en palabras para y de Dios que resultan en nuestro acto de escribir la carta para Dios! A través de este simple acto de escribir una carta a Swami, estamos logrando lo que los sabios y santos de antaño se esforzaron: trikarna shuddhi o la unidad y pureza de la palabra y obra del pensamiento.
Swami dice:
" Manas ekam Vachas ekam Karmanyekam Mahatmanam " (Una gran alma es aquella que tiene unidad y pureza en pensamiento, palabra y obra).
En una nota de despedida, uno tiene que aceptar la realidad última de que Dios está en todas partes y en todo momento. Uno no necesita buscarlo en una forma separada. Pero hasta que uno llegue a ese nivel de unidad con Él, uno debería buscar. Y eso es porque incluso esa búsqueda nos acerca a realizar la realidad última tal como sucedió en el caso de Amey. Él buscó la forma sin duda, pero ese esfuerzo resultó en aumentar el mensaje de que debe darse cuenta de su unidad con Dios.
Escribir cartas a Dios, ir a un lugar religioso, orar y cosas similares son todos medios para alcanzar la Realidad. Nos ayudan a lograr nuestro objetivo final como herramientas de ayuda para completar un proyecto. Son como escaleras que uno usa para escalar una pared. Habiendo escalado la pared, no hay necesidad de la escalera. Sin embargo, sería tonto patear la escalera antes de escalar la pared, o peor, ¡mientras uno está trepando la pared!
Swami exhorta lo mismo en muchos discursos de múltiples maneras.
La batería de tu "automóvil" está cargada cuando vienes a Puttaparthi, o al menos cuando vas a otro lugar sagrado. Cargue la batería de su disciplina espiritual (sadhana) y luego, después de regresar a su hogar, no mantenga el automóvil inactivo. Si lo hace, la batería se agotará. Tome el automóvil y manténgalo en marcha; entonces la batería se cargará sola. Así que también, si no continúas en la compañía del bien, el compromiso con la verdad, el canto devocional y la repetición del nombre, entonces toda esta carga se convierte en un desperdicio.
Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai habla I, 26, 159.
Otro pensamiento me golpeó. Hay muchos beneficios en sinergia. Es por eso que el trabajo en equipo siempre se enfatiza en oficinas corporativas, escuelas, deportes, etc. En los esfuerzos espirituales también, Swami siempre ha alentado la actividad grupal y el satsangh.
En esa luz, lugares de peregrinación como Prasanthi Nilayam (Puttaparthi) son centros de intensa devoción, servicio y espiritualidad. Un aspirante se beneficiará enormemente de la atmósfera útil creada por la sinergia con los compañeros aspirantes. Ahora eso es algo que hay que experimentar.
En esa luz, lugares de peregrinación como Prasanthi Nilayam (Puttaparthi) son centros de intensa devoción, servicio y espiritualidad. Un aspirante se beneficiará enormemente de la atmósfera útil creada por la sinergia con los compañeros aspirantes. Ahora eso es algo que hay que experimentar.
Como Bhagavan Baba solía decir:
"Venga, vea por usted mismo, experimente y luego tenga fe".
Agregamos:
Esta verdad también y en especial se APLICA a Muddenahalli.
Agregamos:
Esta verdad también y en especial se APLICA a Muddenahalli.
OMSAIRAMMM.
TRAD_ CENTRO SAI HISPANO
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Why Pray or Write Letters to an Omniscient God? a Revelation by Sathya Sai
Updated on July 30, 2018
Does God/Guru need our prayers/letters?
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba or Swami has been adored and worshipped as Guru and God by millions. I consider it my singular good fortune that I came to know Him quite early in childhood and accepted Him as my Guru and God. In fact He became my family deity through a bizarre yet profound episode in my uncle's life.
Among the several unique practices that are observed by Swami's devotees, one is the letters they write to Him. Writing letters to Swami was a very common practice among the devotees. They would pour out their hearts - their joys, their sorrows, their problems and their gratitude - on this piece of paper and hand it over to Swami during His Darshan rounds, when He walked amidst the devotees in the morning and evening. Darshan literally means “sight of the holy one” and all of us devotees believe that just being in the presence of and seeing Swami is uplifting and spiritually beneficial and thus the special term, Darshan. Before His physical departure from the world, Swami would Himself collect these letters 'randomly' from the devotees. It is considered a stroke of great fortune if one is able to personally give a letter to Him.
But the question that arises is that if the Guru is aware of everything, why does He need our letters? And now that He is no longer present in the physical, does it make sense to even write letters to Him any more?
The experience of Amey Deshpande, an alumnus of the MBA programme at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, is revealing and insightful in this regard.
The annual letter-writing program
Amey had a unique letter-writing practice. He would write a letter to his Swami only once every year - on his birthday, the 23rd December. He felt and knew that there is nothing that Swami is unaware of. He would remind himself thus and refrain from writing any letters to Swami. However, it was his sentiment to write that single letter annually on his birthday and try to offer it to Swami. That apart, he also gave Swami a very short opportunity window to accept that letter - only one darshan session. If Swami did not accept the letter during that session, unlike most of the others, he would not carry the same letter the next day. He would simply tear it up and throw it in the dustbin with the feeling -
“Swami knows everything anyway”!
It was this that happened on his birthday in 2007. Swami did not accept the letter and at the end of the day, it made its way to the dustbin having been shredded into bits by its author!
It was this that happened on his birthday in 2007. Swami did not accept the letter and at the end of the day, it made its way to the dustbin having been shredded into bits by its author!
A talk that changed the letter-writing program
That same night, as Amey settled down for his studies in the hostel, he got a call over the intercom from one of his classmates seeking some academic clarification. Unable to clear the doubt on the phone, he decided to go up to his room and help him out. On the way, he heard one of the teachers, Dr. M Sainath, sharing a personal experience with a few students in the corridor. While passing by the ‘all-ears’ group, his ears caught a statement that made him to a part of that interested listening group. That sentence was,
“So, the question is, should we write letters to Swami when he knows everything?”
The teacher continued to share an experience with Swami during his student days - times when he shared the privilege of staying with Swami along with a few others as “His attendant”. For us devotees, we know that as ‘attendants’ we help Swami in no way but get the unique privilege and opportunity to observe the Avatar from close quarters and learn from His life. The teacher was reminiscing happy about one such enlightening episode.
“So, the question is, should we write letters to Swami when he knows everything?”
The teacher continued to share an experience with Swami during his student days - times when he shared the privilege of staying with Swami along with a few others as “His attendant”. For us devotees, we know that as ‘attendants’ we help Swami in no way but get the unique privilege and opportunity to observe the Avatar from close quarters and learn from His life. The teacher was reminiscing happy about one such enlightening episode.
The teacher’s narrative
“By Swami’s grace, we had this chance of sleeping just outside his room as 'security duty'. One night, before we could sleep, two of us got into a debate. The debate was on whether one needs to write letters to Swami who knows each and every thought or feeling that courses through us. While I strongly opposed such letter writing, the other boy was strongly in favor of it saying that when Swami Himself was accepting letters, why not write it? There was no end to this debate and the final moderator that night was Nidra Devi, the goddess of sleep, into whose arms we drifted.
The next morning, I was standing in Swami’s room and Swami was seated on the chair, sifting through the huge pile of letters that He had received from the devotees. I saw something very strange. Swami would just look at a letter and discard it into the dustbin. He would open some, no doubt, but such letters were very few in number. Most of them went into the dustbin even without Him opening them. That stunned me and I thought,
“The devotees write with such love and faith. And here is Swami throwing the letters into the dustbin without even glancing at them. How unfair! Well, that is another reason why it is better not to write letters to Him!”
I thought I would definitely report this to the other boy and prove my point. Even as these thoughts filled my head, Swami looked at me and asked,
“Ay! What are you thinking?”
OMG! I was caught. He knew!
“Nothing Swami... just seeing You”, I answered.
“Come here.” The voice was very loving yet firm. “You are wondering what Swami is doing with these letters right?”
He called me close and told me to pick a letter from the huge bundle that had been piled up in front of Him. He then told me to walk back to my place, open the sealed envelope and to read the contents of the letter by myself. As I completed reading the letter, He started speaking,
“What does that Bengali Babu say? His daughter was very sick months ago. He had come here to seek my blessings. I gave him vibhuti to apply for the daughter. Today she is fine and he is expressing his gratitude...”
I could not have summarized the letter better! Swami smiled. I asked Him,
“Swami, then what is the use of writing letters to you? You know everything.”
“It is in answer to your (all the devotees’) prayers that I have descended in this form, else I have the capability to answer you even from above right? You wanted to enjoy the joy of interacting with the Lord. Now that you have got it, you should not cease your efforts”
I then realized my folly. When I write a letter to Swami, it is not for His sake but my own. I am seeing it wrong when I think why Swami needs my letter. It is not Swami who needs my letter. It is I who need my letter to Swami! And it is for our need that Swami accepts letters and prayers - not His! He needs no inputs from us - He knows everything. I will continue to write letters to Him forever because it benefits me immensely to put things down on paper and to get in touch with Swami via that action.
After Swami told that to me and lovingly patted on my head, I went back to my place and continued to stand there. He continued sifting through the letters, throwing most of them straight into the dustbin, reading a few here and there. My heart was totally changed now. Instead of wondering why He was not reading so many letters, I was now wondering why He needed to read even a few! And I got the same answer - He did not need to read them; we needed it.
The next morning, I was standing in Swami’s room and Swami was seated on the chair, sifting through the huge pile of letters that He had received from the devotees. I saw something very strange. Swami would just look at a letter and discard it into the dustbin. He would open some, no doubt, but such letters were very few in number. Most of them went into the dustbin even without Him opening them. That stunned me and I thought,
“The devotees write with such love and faith. And here is Swami throwing the letters into the dustbin without even glancing at them. How unfair! Well, that is another reason why it is better not to write letters to Him!”
I thought I would definitely report this to the other boy and prove my point. Even as these thoughts filled my head, Swami looked at me and asked,
“Ay! What are you thinking?”
OMG! I was caught. He knew!
“Nothing Swami... just seeing You”, I answered.
“Come here.” The voice was very loving yet firm. “You are wondering what Swami is doing with these letters right?”
He called me close and told me to pick a letter from the huge bundle that had been piled up in front of Him. He then told me to walk back to my place, open the sealed envelope and to read the contents of the letter by myself. As I completed reading the letter, He started speaking,
“What does that Bengali Babu say? His daughter was very sick months ago. He had come here to seek my blessings. I gave him vibhuti to apply for the daughter. Today she is fine and he is expressing his gratitude...”
I could not have summarized the letter better! Swami smiled. I asked Him,
“Swami, then what is the use of writing letters to you? You know everything.”
“It is in answer to your (all the devotees’) prayers that I have descended in this form, else I have the capability to answer you even from above right? You wanted to enjoy the joy of interacting with the Lord. Now that you have got it, you should not cease your efforts”
I then realized my folly. When I write a letter to Swami, it is not for His sake but my own. I am seeing it wrong when I think why Swami needs my letter. It is not Swami who needs my letter. It is I who need my letter to Swami! And it is for our need that Swami accepts letters and prayers - not His! He needs no inputs from us - He knows everything. I will continue to write letters to Him forever because it benefits me immensely to put things down on paper and to get in touch with Swami via that action.
After Swami told that to me and lovingly patted on my head, I went back to my place and continued to stand there. He continued sifting through the letters, throwing most of them straight into the dustbin, reading a few here and there. My heart was totally changed now. Instead of wondering why He was not reading so many letters, I was now wondering why He needed to read even a few! And I got the same answer - He did not need to read them; we needed it.
Nothing the Sadguru does is for His benefit!
Inspiration for another letter
Hearing this narrative, Amey forgot the task at hand - clearing doubts of his classmate. Some of his doubts had just cleared and he was struck with an inspiration. He decided to immediately act upon that inspiration.
Drawing tremendous inspiration from the experience of his teacher, Amey went back to his room and decided to resurrect his torn letter. No! He did not take the pieces of paper from the dustbin and glue them together. Instead, he re-wrote the same letter. It was an easy task because every year he wrote, more or less, the same lines. Thus, within minutes, pen came in contact with paper and the letter poured out from his heart.
Most beloved Master,
I offer myself at your lotus feet dear Bhagawan. You brought me into this world to figure out the puzzle of life. You have become my master who is going to take me out too.
Let me understand that you are the divine wirepuller of my life. Let me love you more and more each moment.
Please become the thinker of my thoughts.
Please become the doer of my deeds.
Please become the speaker of my words.
Guide me. Guard me. Protect me.
You are me and I am you.
Let me realize that O Lord.
Bless me this day.
Your loving son and student
Ameya Deshpande.
Having written this letter, he decided to offer it to Swami the next day itself.
Most beloved Master,
I offer myself at your lotus feet dear Bhagawan. You brought me into this world to figure out the puzzle of life. You have become my master who is going to take me out too.
Let me understand that you are the divine wirepuller of my life. Let me love you more and more each moment.
Please become the thinker of my thoughts.
Please become the doer of my deeds.
Please become the speaker of my words.
Guide me. Guard me. Protect me.
You are me and I am you.
Let me realize that O Lord.
Bless me this day.
Your loving son and student
Ameya Deshpande.
Having written this letter, he decided to offer it to Swami the next day itself.
A long journey for a little letter
But Swami’s plans seemed to be different. Forget being able to give the letter the next day, for weeks after that also, the letter was not accepted. But Amey’s inspiration was not one to die down. It had slowly transformed and grown into Shraddha and Saburi, faith and patience - the two favorite qualities that God looks for in the devotee.
The piece of paper got yellowed with age (and the sweat from Amey’s palms). But that did not stop him from holding it in offering to Swami on a daily basis for about 2-3 hours during the darshanand extended darshan sessions. But when the paper got too yellowed and frayed, he would tear it up and re-write the same on a fresh paper! The letter too seemed to go through the cycle of birth and death till it met its ultimate objective of reaching God!
Three months passed this way and the letter was still with Amey.
The letter that Amey wrote to Swami
March 13th, 2008 - the landmark day
It was like any other day. Amey sat in the bhajan hall with the other members of the bhajan group. He was still holding his letter, the 4th ‘reprint’ of the letter actually! He was in the fifth line and Swami had walked into the bhajan hall about fifteen minutes before the bhajanshad actually begun. He was interacting with a few students and teachers in the front.
All of a sudden, Swami looked at Amey and asked,
“Boy, how is your father?”
Having got used to being ‘neglected’ for months now, Amey was not sure that Swami was talking to him. He sat in his place. Swami repeated,
“How is father?”
Now he was sure that Swami was talking to him. He pondered on the meaning of what He was saying. He felt that it was either one of these cases:
1. Swami had seen him holding the letter for so long and therefore was ‘thinking’ that maybe his father is ill.
2. His father was ill and Swami was indicating this to him.
However, instead of getting lost in thoughts, he immediately got up from his place and went up to Swami who was seated on the chair in the bhajan hall. Swami instantly accepted his letter. He asked him again,
“How is father?”
“Swami, you know... (I have no idea)!”
Swami waved His hand and materialized vibhuti and gave it to Amey.
“Send this to your father.”
Amey was immediately at ease. He knew that he didn’t have to worry about his father any more. Whatever be the problem, Swami had already taken care of it.
All of a sudden, Swami looked at Amey and asked,
“Boy, how is your father?”
Having got used to being ‘neglected’ for months now, Amey was not sure that Swami was talking to him. He sat in his place. Swami repeated,
“How is father?”
Now he was sure that Swami was talking to him. He pondered on the meaning of what He was saying. He felt that it was either one of these cases:
1. Swami had seen him holding the letter for so long and therefore was ‘thinking’ that maybe his father is ill.
2. His father was ill and Swami was indicating this to him.
However, instead of getting lost in thoughts, he immediately got up from his place and went up to Swami who was seated on the chair in the bhajan hall. Swami instantly accepted his letter. He asked him again,
“How is father?”
“Swami, you know... (I have no idea)!”
Swami waved His hand and materialized vibhuti and gave it to Amey.
“Send this to your father.”
Amey was immediately at ease. He knew that he didn’t have to worry about his father any more. Whatever be the problem, Swami had already taken care of it.
God knows everything - And that is why He encourages to write letters!
Swami now opened the letter and began to read through it. He read each line of the letter and began nodding His head as if He was listening to Amey speaking. Amey too, on his part, began to mentally speak out the letter for he knew the whole content by heart.
Swami suddenly seemed to stop at one particular point. Amey, who was mentally reading out the letter, too stopped. The statement was,
You are me and I am you.
Swami now turned the letter towards Amey. He underlined that statement with His finger. He said,
“Treasure and foster this feeling and Truth in your heart. That is enough”.
He then patted Amey and sent him back to his place among the students in the Bhajan group. He put back the letter into his pocket for him to cherish as a souvenir of this beautiful lesson. (That is the letter presented in the picture above.) Soon the bhajans began and Amey just could not help but feel the overwhelming love of Swami. He just did not understand why he felt so, but he simply felt it. No wonder that there seemed some added divine melody in the bhajan he sang that day.
Swami suddenly seemed to stop at one particular point. Amey, who was mentally reading out the letter, too stopped. The statement was,
You are me and I am you.
Swami now turned the letter towards Amey. He underlined that statement with His finger. He said,
“Treasure and foster this feeling and Truth in your heart. That is enough”.
He then patted Amey and sent him back to his place among the students in the Bhajan group. He put back the letter into his pocket for him to cherish as a souvenir of this beautiful lesson. (That is the letter presented in the picture above.) Soon the bhajans began and Amey just could not help but feel the overwhelming love of Swami. He just did not understand why he felt so, but he simply felt it. No wonder that there seemed some added divine melody in the bhajan he sang that day.
The highlighted line...
Closing thoughts
It is definitely true that God has no need of our communication. But there is something magical in writing a letter to God. During that act, we achieve the rare unity in thought, word and deed! Our thoughts for and of God, get translated into words for and of God resulting in our act of writing the letter for God! Through this simple act of writing Swami a letter, we are achieving what the sages and saints of yore strived to - trikarna shuddhi or the unity and purity of thought word and deed.
Swami says,
“Manas ekam Vachas ekam Karmanyekam Mahatmanam” ( A great soul is one who has unity and purity in thought word and deed.)
And that is why God has always encouraged the devotee to engage in some sort of communication/prayer/dialogue with Him/Her. This was the reason why the Lord Maha Vishnu asked Dhruva to state the desire in his heart though he knew his thoughts and feelings even as they arose! And so, even today, when the Guru/God is not in our midst in a human form, it is still highly beneficial to write letters to Him and offer the letters in our own altars at home or simply the altar of our hearts.
On a parting note, one has to accept the ultimate reality that God is everywhere and at all times. One does not need to seek Him in a separate form. But until one reaches that level of oneness with Him, one should seek. And that is because even such seeking takes one closer to realizing the ultimate reality as it happened in Amey’s case. He sought the form no doubt, but that endeavor resulted in boosting the message that he must realize his oneness with God!
Writing letters to God, going to a religious place, praying and the like are all media to reach the Reality. They help us achieve our ultimate objective like tools help in completing a project. They are like ladders that one uses to scale a wall. Having scaled the wall, there is no need for the ladder. However, it would be foolish to kick the ladder away before scaling the wall, or worse, while one is climbing the wall!
Swami says,
“Manas ekam Vachas ekam Karmanyekam Mahatmanam” ( A great soul is one who has unity and purity in thought word and deed.)
And that is why God has always encouraged the devotee to engage in some sort of communication/prayer/dialogue with Him/Her. This was the reason why the Lord Maha Vishnu asked Dhruva to state the desire in his heart though he knew his thoughts and feelings even as they arose! And so, even today, when the Guru/God is not in our midst in a human form, it is still highly beneficial to write letters to Him and offer the letters in our own altars at home or simply the altar of our hearts.
On a parting note, one has to accept the ultimate reality that God is everywhere and at all times. One does not need to seek Him in a separate form. But until one reaches that level of oneness with Him, one should seek. And that is because even such seeking takes one closer to realizing the ultimate reality as it happened in Amey’s case. He sought the form no doubt, but that endeavor resulted in boosting the message that he must realize his oneness with God!
Writing letters to God, going to a religious place, praying and the like are all media to reach the Reality. They help us achieve our ultimate objective like tools help in completing a project. They are like ladders that one uses to scale a wall. Having scaled the wall, there is no need for the ladder. However, it would be foolish to kick the ladder away before scaling the wall, or worse, while one is climbing the wall!
Swami exhorts the same in many discourses in multiple ways.
The battery of your "car" is charged when you come to Puttaparthi, or at least when you go to some other holy place. Charge the battery of your spiritual discipline (sadhana) and then, after you return home, do not keep the car idle. If you do, the battery will run down. Take the car around and keep it going; then the battery will charge itself. So also, if you do not continue the company of the good, engagement in truth, devotional singing, and repetition of the name, then all this charging becomes a waste.
Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks I, 26, 159.
Another thought struck me. There is a lot of benefit in synergy. That is why team work is always emphasized in corporate offices, schools, sports etc. In spiritual endeavors too, Swami has always encouraged group activity and satsangh.
In that light, pilgrimage places like Prasanthi Nilayam (Puttaparthi) are hubs of intense devotion, service and spirituality. An aspirant will greatly benefit from the helpful atmosphere created by the synergy with fellow aspirants. Now that is something to be experienced.
In that light, pilgrimage places like Prasanthi Nilayam (Puttaparthi) are hubs of intense devotion, service and spirituality. An aspirant will greatly benefit from the helpful atmosphere created by the synergy with fellow aspirants. Now that is something to be experienced.
As Bhagawan Baba would often say,
"Come, see for yourself, experience and then have faith."
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