"..... Above all, do not give room for the canker
of doubt. Why clique over Me, over this point or that concerning Me? Who
exactly Baba, you discuss and debate! What does it matter to you who I
happen to be? You are concerned about your goal, your ideal, yor
experience, your effort, is it not? Why then worry about My Origin, My
Nature, My Mystery, My Miracle? The basic thing is the hand, the cup it
holds is secondary. The Adheya is less in importance than the Adhara, the
Basic Reality, the Pure Existence. When you cannot reach down to your own
Basic Reality, why waste time in exploring the Essence of Godhead? As a
matter of fact, you can understand Me only when you have understood
yourself, your own basic Truth.
The gross can grasp only the gross; its categories of knowledge can
proceed only as far as that. Fish die when they have to breathe the air
above the water. Children can learn the alphabet with the help of boards,
slates, pencils and pieces of chalk. Sadhakas, going through the primers
of spirituality, need symbols, images and rituals. You cannot discard Name
and Form until you transmute yourself into the Nameless and Formless; just
as the fish needed water and could not come up into the atmosphere, so
long as they
did not transmute themselves into land animals, giving up their aquatic
nature. That is the reason why the Nameless and Formless has often to
assume Name and Form, and come before humanity with limitations imposed by
Its own Will, so that it may be loved, respected, worshipped, listened to
and followed; so that the Purpose of Humanity may be
fulfilled.
A wooden elephant, however artistically perfect and lifelike, is but a
toy; it cannot create the awareness of the genuine elephant.
A library stacked with books is incapable of imparting the authentic touch
of the living Guru; you may trek to ten temples and then, at last arrive
here, believing this to be the eleventh. That is as fruitless as wandering
from the tenth library to an eleventh. You must see, hear, study, observe,
experience, reflect; then only can you understand Me.
You will learn then that I am Prema Itself; that I give only one thing,
Ananda, through that Prema. My task is to distribute Solace, Courage and
Shanthi. That is to say, My characteristics are the ancient authentic
ones; only the Manifested Form is new. My desire - if I can put it in so
many words - is this: More and more should yearn for Me. The desire could
be realised only if I assume this Form and come among you.
Those among you who have been following the unfolding of My story will
have discovered this by now; though even to the best of you only a
fraction of the Mystery is revealed.
..... My language, My role, My career, My purpose
can be understood in a general way only by sitting through the entire
film, watching earnestly and vigilantly and trying
to get at the meaning of every word and act with patient attention.
As a matter of fact, language is an impediment in dealing with Me. All
languages have a place in the concourse of men, bringing out their
feeling, hiding their weaknesses, shaping their thoughts etc. but I speak
and listen to the language of the soul. The words littered by the tongues
of men confuse and confound; they breed factions and sects; they erect
walls; the words that emanate from the soul radiate love and concord.
..... There are some who come here and earn Peace and Joy, but after years
of sharing and serving, they fall a prey to waywardness and fall back into
the old morass; declining to such an extent that they deny their very
experience and play false to their own conscience! Not that I am anxious
that they should worship Me or adhere to Me; far from it. I only ask that
Truth must be proclaimed, regardless of the company you have fallen into;
there must be courage of conviction, which will help you to overcome the
temptation to deny your cherished joys.
There are again some others who are swept off their feet by hysterical
demonstrations by certain weak-minded individuals, which are described as
My speaking through them or acting through them! Take it from Me, I am not
given to such absurdities! I do not use others as My media; I have no need
to. I do not swing from side to side and prattle!
..... Their gestures, words and actions are hollow and vain;
those who burn incense before them and revere them are turning away from
Me and running after Falsehood.
..... For, how can the Full ever dally with the paltry and wear the
habiliment of the trifling? When God has come assuming Form, take it from
Me, it will not fill inferior vessels or embellish tawdry stuff or enter
impure bodies.
..... The Lord is as anxious to assuage your pain as you are anxious to
secure his Grace to get rid of it. You may not know this but I know, for I
feel it.
..... Do not listen to destructive criticisms and cynicisms, which are the
poisons eating into the vitals of spiritual life today. Bear witness to
the truth of your own experience; do not be false to yourself, or to Me.
My name is Sathya Sai; it means, "He who reclines on Truth."
I am reminded now of past events, events in my previous body.
Even then, I had Sathya or Truth as my Support. A wrestler challenged Me
then for a fight and he was defeated before a large gathering of
villagers. Pained by the insult, he invited Baba for a second tussle the
next day, so that he might win back his lost reputation. The man swore
that if defeated again, he would wear a long rough kafni and move about
with his head covered in cloth.
He dared Baba too to swear likewise. Baba was in no mood to enter the
arena again and he was quite prepared to concede the fellow the victory he
craved. So he accepted defeat and himself donned the kafni and the
kerchief. The wrestler felt great remorse and his Insolence melted away.
He appealed to Baba to resume his usual style of dress and released him
from the obligation. But Baba stuck to his word. He was Sathya Itself.
Then, as He is now, He wore the new attire. - Sai Baba
Source- "Spend your days with Shiva" SSS Vol II
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