Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 2/28

A new student joined the Bal Vikas class. His name was Anthony. He was 13 years old. He probably came to Swami just in time. Anthony was coming from the wrong side of society. It was the same story: the father had left the family, the mother did not have much resources and he also had other small brothers. It was not easy to be poor and disadvantaged in a welfare nation. So Anthony found a way to survive: telling lies. He was saying that his mother owned a good flower shop and that his father was a fireman. These were small lies, they were his dreams. He wanted to be a fireman when he had grown up. He wanted very badly to be respected, loved, to enjoy all the big gifts that life is giving when you walk in Dharma. As no one taught Anthony how to get these gifts, he imagined he had them. One day there was a fire in the classroom. Some kid set fire to the rubbish. The teacher called him: "Anthony, as you know everything about the fire brigade, how does the fire extinguisher work?" Now, everybody was looking at that small boy wearing dresses not very clean. Anthony felt inside a big determination. With a punch he broke the glass case, took out the extinguisher and in two seconds he extinguished the fire. That little success helped Anthony to change his life. He got a little more confidence in himself, so the other kids loved him more. One of his friends was Francis. One day Francis took Anthony to the Bal Vikas class and you can imagine what happened. Anthony asked: "Who is that man dressed in orange, with all that hair?" Francis: "He is Sathya Sai!" "What does it mean?" Anthony asked. Francis answered: "Truth." The two boys looked at each other in their eyes. One minute of silence followed and then Anthony said: "I don't want to lie anymore, I will not lie anymore, no more." When Anthony found the love of our beloved Master then he found himself.

Look at the blossoms in the garden. When the gardener plucks the flowers, the buds exult that tomorrow is their turn to be gathered into his hands and their faces are full of joy when they unfold in that hope. Do they feel any sadness? Do their faces droop? Are they any the less bright? No. The moment they know that it is their turn the next day, they make themselves ready with great excitement. When someone whom you know dies today, you may be afraid that it may be your turn tomorrow but, that should not affect your Sadhana. You must get ready to merge in God any moment when the call comes. Fear of death is the meanest act of cowardice man is capable of.  - Baba (Sanathana Sarathi, July 1977)

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 2/27

Swami helps us see correctly. Our mind tricks us into foolishness, and Swami comes to set us right. How glorious is Swami's teaching, how protective and saving are His words and His love! He attracts us and we become more and more absorbed in His love until we feel His Presence all the time and we want to follow His lead to perfection.

A Close Relationship with the Avatar

Swami teaches that we are divine, pure love and bliss, and that through His love we can realise our own divine love. He has come during such a dark time in human history when families, nations and religions are warring. What He offers to the beleaguered humanity is something quite unique and extraordinary, an intimate relationship with a living Avatar. This is a blessing beyond comprehension, and a force that can protect and guide us through rough and troubled times.

The personal relationship with Swami is vital and fresh and filled with the unexpected - with humour, drama, and a love that is beyond description. This love gives great confidence and strength. By His grace, our family has had steadiness and direction during these troubled times. I am sure we will never in a million lifetimes be able to comprehend the full scope of Swami's protective Grace.

Once my wife and I were talking with Swami about the troubled school system that our daughters were in. Drugs and violence had made their way even into elementary schools. We asked Swami if we should find a better school for the children. Swami sweetly and gently said, "I know the schools are not good, but it is the same all over. Keep them in their school, but talk to them often and find out what is on their minds. Give encouragement and guidance." My wife Sharon said with alarm, "Swami, the world is so dangerous now, if it were not for You..." Swami stopped her and with a serious, almost chilling look said, "Yes, if it were not for Me,everything would be lost"

And so we begin to see how vital Swami is to everything we do. He shows us that the cornerstone of spiritual life is a living loving close relationship with God. Then we become aware that His omnipresent love is the source of all our strength and success. As the relationship becomes deeper and more intimate we see more clearly how He is always with us protecting, guiding, leading, saving and giving us strength to overcome our Karma and the rough seas of the outer world.

Part of the path teaches us how to deal with suffering. Pain and suffering must be expected on the spiritual path and the antidote is God's love. In fact, it is God's love which allows us to go through our Karma more quickly and safely - it is His love which teaches proper attitude to suffering. As a psychiatrist I daily draw on Swami's teachings to help me and my patients face their problems.

First to remember is that all `this' is `that' - that all life is a spiritual journey bringing us home to our pure divine love. And Swami is the guide and goal. He helps us have courage and teaches us how to release ourselves into Him. Expecting suffering, accepting it and knowing that sacrifice is the key to liberation, leaning to stay close to Swami and offer Him everything, feeling His loving omnipresence and with the power of "Sohum" releasing ourselves into Him - this is part of the path of release into His love.

Rachel's Stress

A year ago, our daughter Rachel went to the gym. She and her twin sister, Ruth, were stressed by a deadline for a book they were writing, entitled "Twins", and Rachel hoped that a workout would reduce stress. When finished, she found that she couldn't open the lock to her locker. She panicked, thinking that someone had broken into her locker and taken her clothes and valuables, including her wallet, money, identification and credit cards and keys to her car and apartment.

Rachel fervently prayed to Swami for help and called Ruth for moral support and asked her to come fetch her, as she had no car key. Ruth told Rachel that a friend who they hadn't seen in months, had just brought a lovely, large, beautifully decorated basket of chocolates and little stress reducing items. Evidently he knew they were worried about their book. Ruth described the gift - there was a tension reducing squeezable bean bag, a cute lizard looking animal that sits on top of the computer monitor and makes you smile, some stress reducing items, and of course, the lovely chocolates. 'You really must see it - it is so beautiful!'

The manager of the gym helped by cutting through the lock. As the door swung open, Rachel cheered to find her property untouched. But why couldn't she open her lock? Rachel ruffled through her bag and found another lock, the one she usually used. Evidently, when she reached for this lock, she picked up another that she forgot she had, and thus, the answer to the riddle. Ruth arrived to find Rachel happy and thankful for Swami's protection. When they arrived home, they enjoyed the lovely basket of chocolates and stress reducers.

A Wonderful Visitation

Later that night, Rachel had a dream. She and Ruth were on a walk and had to part. Ruth went to visit a nearby temple, and Rachel went into an old two storey house. She heard Swami would be coming, and people were preparing for His visit. The house was barren and crowded. A pack of people slowly shoved up a circular staircase. She felt uncomfortable and wondered why Swami would visit this unlikely place. At the top was a drab room with few windows and no furniture. Surely Swami wouldn't be visiting this place, she thought, and pushed against the crowd to descend the stairs. Just as she started down, a sound of excitement signalled Swami's approach. Immediately her mood changed to excited anticipation.

In a moment, Swami appeared, radiant and beaming with love. His orange robe settled softly over His body, and He walked with grace and authority. Rachel was thrilled and lit with happiness. As Swami passed, He turned towards her - and her heart melted. She became one with Swami's smile and felt pure sweetness from His attention. Swami softly said, "How did you like your basket?"

Rachel didn't understand what He meant, and wondered, `What basket?' She then realised THE BASKET OF CHOCOLATES " Oh Swami, was that from You? Did You send the basket?" She began to cry. Swami looked at her with great compassion and said, "Yes, it was from Me. I am always with you, always protecting and providing. I am with you in the heat of summer and in the chill of winter - I am always with you."

Rachel wept with love for Swami. She was hurled out of sleep and sat straight up in her bed, crying with wonderment, delight, and love. She held the glow of Swami's Darshan in her heart for days after. When she told the story to Ruth and then to my wife and me, we all shed tears of love and gratitude for Swami. What a wonderful visitation!

Swami is always with us, during times of happiness and times of troubles, protecting and guiding us through the path of purification to perfection. His promise, "Why fear when I am here," must be held firmly in our hearts. Let us rejoice about our intimate relationship with Swami and pray that we remain steady and full of faith throughout the turbulence of life and are good instruments of His peace and love.

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 2/26

My story is concerned with two dreams. But first I must set the stage for the dreams, for the stage was set on the physical plane in an office.

The story is about personality conflicts in an office and two jobs and an attempt to upgrade these jobs to higher classifications under the governmental body's rules. The length of time of service was approximately the same for both individuals, the responsibilities of both individuals had increased proportionately with the growth of the division, but when the decision was handed down, only one job was re classified to a higher grade, and it wasn't mine. It was not fair but nothing could be done about it under the present director, who consistently had refused to acknowledge that the quality and quantity of my work was more than mediocre, even though George, my immediate superior, has always given me excellent ratings. This director sometimes seemed to take a special delight in "baiting" me to see how I would react, and even went so far as to shelve a request for leave that had been submitted a month in advance.

So that was the state of affairs. My mind was constantly preoccupied with my difficulties, trying to find a way out. Time spent trying to meditate was nothing but a rehash of the same old problems.

One night I had a dream. In this dream a part of myself was wandering down a hall and came to a room. In this room an electric cord was plugged into a wall receptacle. I knew that this cord led to a movie projector in another room, and that a picture was being shown on the screen. Much to my surprise, I reached up and disconnected the plug and unseen by anyone, walked out of the room with a feeling of guilt, expecting the police to stop me. But no one did, so I proceeded out of the building, which seemed to be in a high school setting, and after a little difficulty made my way out of the crowd by going to the right. In trying to interpret the dream I decided that disconnecting the plug meant disconnecting myself from the job. There would be darkness and confusion while they tried to find out what was wrong with the projector, never looking to see that the power source had been cut off. I thought of myself as a power source for George, since I thought that much of his success had been due to my efforts and cooperation, and his success in turn had contributed to our director's success. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in that interpretation but the feeling of guilt I could not account for. Alas, I did not realize that what the part of me in the dream had done was mischief—whose definition according to the dictionary is "Harm, damage, especially trouble or vexation caused by human agency. Harmful quality or character. A source of harm, evil, trouble or vexation."

George, my immediate supervisor, suffers from diabetes and heart trouble and was recovering from an eye operation. I told him about my feeling, that I felt I had been treated shamefully. He replied that he would like to see me fight back, but I told him that I couldn't see that the position was worth fighting for and certainly did not want to draw the wrath of the director on my head.

I brooded over the apparent injustice, felt sorry for myself, and came to the conclusion that the dream was prompting a transfer. A constant battle was going on in my mind. I was feeling sick and didn't want to go to work. Would I be running away if I retired and went to India to be with Baba? What would I do when I had to come back, as come back one must? The small retirement income would soon be eaten up by inflation and depression. The coming holocaust would make things even worse. I couldn't arrive at a decision except to stand on my own two feet as long as possible.

George came back to work, but was visibly growing weaker.

I had another dream in it my mother was sick. I was in a cafeteria run by my boss. I looked at all the food but the only thing that looked attractive to me was a large bowl of grapefruit sections decorated with a cherry. I wanted to take them to my mother, but they were very, very expensive. I also realized that they would not taste as good as they looked because of the preservatives.

The dream woke me. I analyzed it and came to the conclusion that the fruit represented "the fruits of the action" to which I was not entitled. I would pay a high price if I purchased them. My sick mother was a part of myself, the best part, that was sick over the behaviour of another part of myself.
Back at work George became weaker and had to go back to the doctor. It looked like death might soon take him away.

This was where Baba stepped in, to save me from harming others and bringing upon myself some far reaching consequences.

After work I went to the beach to go swimming. I carefully took off my japmala that Baba had placed around my neck, put it in my cosmetic case with jewelry, put the case in my purse and locked the purse in the car. I went swimming, then later sat with my back against a fir tree to recoup some energy. I went home, ate dinner, did the dishes and went to bed.

The next morning I reached in my purse for the japmala. It was gone. But the earrings and the rings were there. I searched the places I had been. No japmala.

I knew that Baba had taken it back. Why? To punish me? My thoughts whirled. I wasn't worthy of Baba's love, of His time and effort. I was lazy, I was a terrible example, a bad representative. Baba's purity couldn't stand my dark thoughts. I wasn't living the words of the morning prayer: "Let me speak sweet, soft words behave coolly and comfortingly towards all, do deeds which shower happiness on all, form ideals which are beneficial to all." I examined myself. I prayed. I thought. What to do? A great weight had descended on my heart. I had sinking sensation in the solar plexus region. All joy and happiness had fled.

Then I remembered the dream and disconnecting the electricity. A prankster part of me had done that, and I had experienced a feeling of guilt.

George was dying. Could I be contributing to the cause of his death? He would leave a wife and five children, only one of whom had completed high school. They were lovely children. Joan, George's wife worked very hard at an outside job. They needed both incomes to provide their family with food, shelter, clothing and books for school. Was this what Baba had been trying to make me see by giving me a quick blow to end the mischief which had been set in motion?

I made up my mind that since the prankster within me had disconnected the electricity in the dream, that in fantasy I would re enact the dream, restoring the plug to the receptacle, with Baba helping me. I must do my best to rectify this situation which had taken place in the realm of the unseen and must be corrected in the same realm.

I prayed to Baba, taking His hand in mine. In fantasy I walked back to that dream hall, picked up the plug and with Baba's hand over my hand, inserted the cord into the receptacle. Then I practised meditation, using the image of the flame to cleanse my body, heart and, mind. I sent love and light to George for healing. Lastly, I accepted the situation. The Lord had placed me in this job and here I would stay until He saw fit to move me. I had failed the test in the School of life.

The next day at work George called to report that he was feeling much better and would be back at work on Monday.

Yes, that was the reason Baba had taken away my japmala, the only thing that would wake me up, to save me from the wrong of harming others and the awful consequences that I was bringing upon myself. That, too, was His Grace.

I woke from sleep before dawn and drafted these words. In the afternoon I got in my car after a period of prayer with a friend. I had visualized Baba with His hand on both our heads. I glanced in the direction of the glove compartment. A wisp of grey, almost like smoke, was drifting toward the floor and as I watched a Lincoln penny appeared on the floor. That was a sign! Baba had accepted my contrite heart by sending me a penny from Heaven!

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 2/25

Everything was unusually quiet; we were speeding towards the City of Kano in Nigeria, late in the night on the 22nd of December 1980. When we were just entering the City, suddenly I saw a crowd standing in the middle of the main road, about 100 metres away. Can they be armed robbers? The Nigerian driver managed to stop. He tried to reverse as fast as possible before we could be seen or trapped but it was too late. The crowd came shouting at us to stop. Then only the news headlines in the morning paper I had bought on the way flashed across my mind. There was widespread disturbance in the city and a number of people had been killed on the previous day.

I told the driver to stop, because running away may cause unpredictable damage to the car and life. I had a picture of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Baba, with the car documents and the passport. I collected them in my hands. The Blessing Palm of Bhagawan appeared to infuse some strength into me. Within seconds we were surrounded by the people who were fully armed.

Two of them, with two heavy iron crowbars, came and stood on either side of the car and brought their instruments to rest on either side of the bonnet making two deep dents on it. An elderly man who came shouting at me with a volley of questions both in Hausa and in English, cooled down when I told him that I had come to receive my wife and children, who were expected to arrive at the Aminu Kano International Airport on the next day. He waved his hands, indicating to the others around the car not to do any further damage.

We were driving slowly only to face another crowd at the junction 75 metres away. They also stopped us in spite of the shouting and waving of hands from those who had allowed us to proceed. This group examined the empty boot of the car thoroughly.

After this, they told us not to proceed on our journey, because they knew that the other groups waiting all along the roads will not permit any car to pass. They advised us to go to the Central Hotel or to the Daula Hotel to spend the night. Since these hotels were also far away from that place, an old man volunteered to take us to a safe place. His fete was painted white. We hesitated to give any answer. Without waiting for any reply from us, he simply pushed the driver to one side and took the wheel. Before we could realise what was happening, he turned the car from the main road and we were moving into the bush through narrow lanes and villages.

Finally the car stopped under a (Margosa/Neem) tree, in front of a Hausa pattern mud house. The man who was driving appeared to be the owner of the house. He got down from the car. Although it was midnight, the area appeared to be fully active and awake. Even children were around the car and were curious to find out more about us.

I took out the licence book with Baba's picture and started sending an S.O.S. to Bhagawan. In this way I could shut out torturing thoughts presented by the unexpected train of events. Further, I assured my friend (who was highly upset) that Bhagawan Baba was with us and that there was nothing to worry.

The man who went inside the house, brought out two mats and requested us to relax under the tree. We thanked him for the kind gesture and told him to give a place for our driver to sleep somewhere inside.

Soon afterwards, a man came out from one side. He was commanding the respect of all the people present there. He spoke a few words with the owner of the house. Then he came straight to us and said: “You appear to be worried. Would you like to spend the rest of the night at the police station?" We gladly accepted and he offered to take us to the police station. He took the front seat and asked our driver to drive. The crowd that came with him were marching in procession in front of the car and were removing all the obstacles on the path to allow our car to pass.

This procession continued through the bush roads for about a mile and took about 30 minutes. At the police station the man introduced us to the officer in charge who was standing outside with a gun in his hand. We greeted the officer and turned round to thank the man who brought us safely up to that place. But the man was not there; we also never had any chance to meet him again.

The police officer pointed to a human body lying in the darkness at a short distance and said that he had to shoot him only a few minutes back. He was trying to run away inspite of the order to stop and surrender.

Our driver slept in the officer's room and we managed to relax inside the car till 6.00 a.m. next day. We hurried out early in the morning and were shocked to see burnt cars and charred human bodies, some of which were still burning on the roadside.

The morning papers carried the news of a foreign reporter who was killed by a poisoned arrow on that night. The two dents on the bonnet of my car are there to this day; I treasure them as marks of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's Grace that protected us all through.

NEW YEAR'S EVE GET-TOGETHER (31/12/09)

New Year's Eve is an annual get-together for all the members and well-wishers of NED center.  Our pot-luck dinner began at 7.30pm with a wide array of delicious vegetarian food and delicacies prepared by our very own members.  This was accompanied with a slideshow featuring some of the activities carried out by our members throughout year 2009.

At 10.15pm, all members gathered back at our center for a one-hour bhajan which included vedam chanting.  This was followed with Gayathri Mantra chanting x 108 times to herald in the new year.

For more pictures, click below :

http://picasaweb.google.com/ssbcned3/NewYearEveGetTogether311209#