Sandeha Nivarini - Post 6

Devotee: The world knows well how You are vouchsafing courage and daring and guiding men to do good spiritually, physically, and mentally. The world knows how You have rendered educational and medical help. You have never done any harm or caused harm to anyone in any form. How can we suppress the people who invent and spread all kinds of silly stories about such as You? Do they gain anything by this?

Swami: Oh. So this is the story! Well don’t you know that good and bad are of the very nature of the world? If all are engaged in selling, who will buy? With regard to God, fault finding has come down from the beginning of time; it is not new. But present-day people might manufacture some new tales. Well, why should you take such abuse to heart? Take it that they are remembering Swami by this means!

Memories of love and memories of hatred are two types. 

The latter are ignorance-based illusion (a-vidya- maya) and are related to the quality of passion (rajoguna). The former are knowledge-based illusion (vidya-maya) and are related to the quality of serenity (sathwa-guna). Ignorance-based illusion results in grief; knowledge- based illusion results in bliss (ananda). Their results are indicated there itself.

Now, why should you suppress? You asked about the gain, right? They don’t need any gain; finding fault with others has become their habit; they do it as their duty. As the saying goes, “What does the moth care or gain whether the sari costs a hundred tankas or is cheap? To gnaw and tear is its nature.” The moth tears a costly sari or a rag equally. Does it know the value of things? Its work is such. So be at peace, realising that the work of these fault-finders is the same as the work of these moths.

Author's note 

With the example of some people criticizing Swami; while answering to that, Swami has given a big lesson to all of us today.

He says:-

Feeling of hatred is caused by Avidya Maya, ignorance and related to Quality of passion- Rajo guna.

This results in grief.

Feeling of Love is caused by Vidya Maya, illusion based on Knowledge, related to quality of Serenity- Sattwa Guna.

This results in Ananda/Bliss.

So, readers, why would we, after understanding this truth, develop quality of passion, develop hatred for others and ultimately end up in grief??

Only way, only solution, only secret to be happy, to be in Ananda / Bliss is to LOVE, LOVE and LOVE one's SELF which culminates in LOVING ALL!!

Love.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Sandeha Nivarini - Post 5

Dear All,

Let us recapitulate the 3 summary points of yesterday's learning from Swami's answers to devotee's questions and deal with each point in today's post.

Pardon the author for a little longer post, but he had to cover all the three points in this post. 

First summary point

A Guru should not be giving mantra to each and every one who throngs to His feet. Guru is the one who should know the qualifications and the level of His disciple and guide the disciple accordingly.

The relation between a Guru and His disciple is like that of a doctor and patient.

In case of Doctor and patient, the Doctor has to prescribe medicine for curing the physical illness of his patient.

In case of Guru and disciple, Guru has to prescribe instructions which can cure the spiritual illness / ignorance / shortfall of His disciple.

Thus, it is clear that each disciple comes to their Guru with different ego level, different vasanas, different impressions, different knowledge level, different stage in their sadhana. 

How can the Guru give the same mantra to all of them?? Rather, how can a Guru even give any mantra to any of them without gauging and knowing where they stand in spiritual knowledge (or spiritual ignorance) level??

Second summary point

One must be very careful in choosing a right Guru. One must not be carried away by emotions and weak mind while choosing and accepting someone as Guru.

This is a very important aspect in a disciple's sadhana. 

We often get carried away emotionally when one talks about such and such Guru / master who does great things, who removes all ignorance, who knows about one's past, present, future etc and then we rush to such a master.

Once we are not satisfied fully with that Guru, we jump from one Guru to another, like monkey jumps from one tree to another, never settled in one tree. 

A true Guru is the one who wants only our spiritual transformation and nothing else whatsoever ever. Such a Guru will not even expect you to prostrate to Him, leave alone any other expectation of comforts / wealth / fame / your dependence on Him etc. 

Such a Guru has no other hidden agenda. He will never want you to be a slave to Him, He will never expect you to praise Him, talk about Him to all others etc.  He will give whatever He has to give to you, in the depth of silence, without any publicity, without any pomp, without seeking anything in return from you.

Note - We are talking about Guru and we should not apply these points to divine incarnations. For Divine incarnations, we cannot prescribe / describe any rules / any nature, as in essence, an incarnation is beyond any one's comprehension.

Third summary point

Even if one has accepted some mantra (Lord's name) from a Guru and later on, find that the Guru is not genuine, even then, one must not give up the mantra (of Lord's name) given by that Guru. Swami beautifully says, such giving up the mantra is casting the fault of another on the sacred name of God.

Dear All,

There was a case in North India where, a Guru / Preceptor, acclaimed by many, turned out to be in-genuine later on.

The author had doubt of the genuineness of  that Guru even when people close to him were totally surrendering to that Guru.

Even at that time and even after the disciple themselves came to know about the real face of that person, the author had only one thing to tell them.

"Just think of what ever good you have received from that person. Just think of what ever transformation you have gone through due to your association with him / her.  Do not give room to any negativity in your heart about that person. Such negative feelings only will add to your Karma. You move on with a clear mind with gratitude to that person for what ever changes his / her association has brought within you.

As for that person's in genuineness , it is between him / her and Swami. You have no role in that. Let Swami decide how to deal with that. "

Author hopes that the above practical example more than clarifies what Swami has given in the third summary point.

Love.