2011-04-27 Last Rites with State Honours
This video shows the bhajans, followed by prayers said and chanted
from various religions, iincluding Jewish, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and
Sikhism.
The Indian Flag is draped over the coffin. The final journey of
Bhagawan had the full state honours as both Governor and Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh were present during the occasion.and the coffinis carried to its
finally resting place.
Curtains are drawn in front of the verandah, as the coffin is
buried.
Link also available at:
http://www.saicast.org/2011/20110427LastRites.html
Published Thursday, April 28, 2011 @ 0915 hrs.
From 'the beauteous Divine Form gliding into our midst granting
Darshan', we have come to 'the Darshan of Maha Samadhi of the Avatar of the
Age'..a shift that came most unexpectedly and thus difficult to comprehend and
come in terms with. Though it came as a shocker for the devoted fraternity,
now, upon reflecting, we see many an instance where Bhagawan has given enough
hints of His departure from this earthly plane. One such clear instance,
perhaps the final one, was on the 20th March when He made a clean gesture, out
in the open, bidding adieu to the devotees, from the worldly plane. Read on the
reflections of the entire happening, as penned by Ms. Jullie Chaudhary.
...could there be a mother as loving and forgiving as You?
...could there be a father as wise and strong as You?
...could there be a teacher as patient and silent as You?
...could there be a being as compassionate as You?
...could there be a light as bright as You?
...could there be a guru as supreme as You?
...could there be us without You?
27th April 2011, will go down in the annals of the Universe as the
day, life came to a stand still for millions across the globe, as the Avatar’s
physical frame was laid to rest in Sai Kulwant Hall at Prasanthi Nilayam. The
end of a magnificent era. There have been Avatars in the past, but none have
been so freely and easily accessible to the public, with a mission to transform
and not to annihilate. A mission which was an open book, where each paragraph
unfolded a saga of pure love, selfless service and supreme sacrifice and every
page showed His life was His message - a message of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti,
Prema, Ahimsa.
Dark clouds of gloom that covered the planet, as the Ocean of
Compassion and Selfless Love, chose to bid adieu to Mother Earth, could be
lifted only by winds of determination, fuelled by the need to envelope every
atom of the Universe with His legacy of Love All, Serve All; Help Ever Hurt
Never.
The Memorial Service for this earth shattering event began with
soulful devotional songs reverberating through the ether. The melodious odes to
the Divine Mother – Beloved Sai Maa, left every heartbroken, with little
rivulets flowing from the eyes of all. While some surrendered to the supreme
will of the divine, there were innumerable heart rending sighs and pangs of
despair, when the divine casket was lifted from where it had been placed in
state, to be carried for the final ceremony.
Here too the Beloved One was teaching a profound lesson - that
which comes into being has to depart too, He was the ‘dehi’, blissful, infinite
and unaffected and not the ‘deha’.
From the highly placed dignitary; to the lay devotee, to the
students – the cherished property of the Master; to the rustic aficionado,
clearly Bhagawan reigned as the supreme Beloved in every soul.
Spiritual leaders from various sects were invited to read out their
prayers, keeping in mind that Beloved Swami incessantly promoted the harmony of
religions – “There is only one religion, the religion of Love”.
Sai Kulwant Hall echoed with intonations from Judaism; verses from
Christian texts and Baha’i; adoration from Islam and veneration too, from the
entire fraternity for His ceaseless humanitarian efforts; rich baritones of
hymns from Buddhism; and words of reverence from Sikkhism, wherein the entire
congregation was asked to stand, as a mark of deep regard.
As a sign of profound respect and honor, the Indian National Flag
was placed on the Divine Casket, even as a gun salute echoed through the
environment.
The priests then began the consecration ceremony. Water had been
procured from all the holy rivers through the length and breadth of the
Motherland, her loving offering at the Lotus Feet.
There were some parts of these sacred rites and rituals which were
to be conducted in privacy, as suggested by the priests, and so a brilliant
drape in a semi circle pattern, rendered the enclosure private. As the priests
chanted the specific chants, Sai Gayatri resounded through the atmosphere
energizing it immensely. It felt as though a host of celestial beings unseen to
the human eye, hailed this overwhelming moment and showered many a fragrant
flower, as they watched the unfolding of this final scene of the divine drama.
The cosmos too worshipped the material manifestation of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.
Even as the red cloth screen was gently lowered, it seemed to
signify curtains for the glorious era of the Avatar. God had descended for
mankind to ascend, choosing to take upon His manifested form, many an
individual, collective, colossal, as well as cosmic ailment which could
otherwise have a disastrous effect on the person, the nation, the world…and the
universe. Natural disasters and human follies; nuclear leaks and human neglects
and errors; the decay of a planet and human sloth, slumber and excesses go hand
in hand and reflects on the material body of the Compassionate One.
The physical frame of the Beloved of millions was gently lowered
into the special Samadhi prepared for It, under the watchful eyes of Ganesha.
The devoted gathering streamed ahead to pour sacred ash into this Divine
Samadhi, rendered now as the holiest among shrines on the planet, for nowhere
else in the world was any one ‘Person’ worshipped and adored by a such a vast
multitude, belonging to various religions at any given point of time.
And so we question ourselves was this divine departure sudden? Or,
as with everything else that unfolded in the earthly life of Bhagawan, it had
been planned with precision which only the Master could master? The Lord gave
many a hint but the import was lost on most of us.
Let us stroll over to the evening of 20th March 2011, where Beloved
Bhagawan gently floated in for divine darshan, in His four wheeled chariot.
Even as the tempo of bhajans increased and the Lord showered love and many a
blessing, He received spellbound adoration from the devoted gathering. To the
glee of the devotees He took two full rounds of the hall. The bliss increased!
It was the festival of ‘Holi’ and there were a distinct group of men and women
from Bihar, where this day is celebrated gaily. At the far end of the Hall,
many stood up on their feet to have that special glimpse and perhaps a glance
from Him. Bhagawan interacted with the students and tossed vibhuti packets to
them playfully.
The rounds over, once it reached the verandah, the doors of the
chariot opened and all eyes were glued to this resplendent Figure in orange
hues. What a moment to behold, as the car seat smoothly maneuvered itself to
touch Mother Earth and then gently glided along to take its position on the
podium. It was then the turn of students, who were fortunate enough to
celebrate their birthday that evening to have a special tete a tete with
Beloved Bhagawan.
Soon its time for Aarti followed by Samastha Lokaah Sukhino
Bhavantu. The joyful moment is prolonged and in a few seconds there is the much
coveted double Abhaya Hasta. Even as the audience sighs at this benediction
there is a stunning gesture from Bhagawan.
With palms joined together akin to a namaskar, He holds up His
arms, first towards the gathering at the gents side and then slowly towards the
ladies side. Unprecedented, extraordinary, unique…and thought provoking too.
But overlooked. The implications ignored. Was it a gesture indicating
“good-bye”?
And now as we are faced with this immeasurable void of the glorious
form of our Beloved Lord…the unbearable silence…the inexplicable grief…the
immense emptiness…the unanswered whys?...the anguished ‘why couldn’t He’...the
steady stream of tears…the shock of the suddenness…the silent acceptance…all of
it has its answer in the concluding scene of this erstwhile darshan.
The Beloved One had given a hint but it was not reflected upon
deeply. We heard Him but did we listen…?
We saw but did not want to face or believe…or perhaps wanted to
avoid…like the ostrich that buries its head in the sand…only to be buried by
the sands of time…
sourced:
http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/cosmictribute2011.html
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The whole assumption that the planet is there for us to
exploit is false. We are not mere observers of nature. We are nature. The human
being is that point where nature becomes self-conscious and can lift out in
thought into the universe and think God's thoughts again, can reflect God's
thoughts, and receive the ever present God into heart and into mind. We are
making this discovery, this greatest of all experiences, that God is wherever
there is life, light and love, wherever we allow love and light to come into
our hearts and into our thinking.
It is wonderful to realise that God is there within our own
thinking. "I am with you always, closer than breathing, nearer than hands and
feet." What is closer than breathing? The answer surely is thinking. "I AM
there in your thinking." Look at the implications of this. This is the message.
This is the thought for our generation and our time. This is the point which we
have got to apprehend and make conscious and utilise. God and all His
creatures, your guardian angel, your higher self, speak within your own
thinking.
Man in God's image
Will you try this little experiment? Look into another
person's eyes. You need not smile, need not respond for this idea goes beyond
individual personalities. Just realise the wonder of this organ which enables
the angelic world or God to look out from within nature and see creation from
the inside, not merely looking down upon the planet in its beauty, but entering
it through that organ of perception in nature which we call Humanity. It is God
looking out of your eyes at Himself in mine.
We are looking through into that vast being of which God said
"Let us make man in our own image." This immense spiritual being of humanity is
everywhere and Earth, this gem of a planet, is the chosen point at which this
divine experiment can take place. It involved the releasing of a hierarchy of
spiritual beings into this chosen planet, and giving them freedom, which
involves
freedom to err. It is the great gamble of the gods, the great
experiment to create a hierarchy of spiritual beings, who, having freedom, are
ultimately able to come back again to God out of free choice.
The forces of light are forbidden to interfere with human
freedom, and therefore the great guiding beings must watch and wait until a
human being out of its heart rededicates itself to service of the Lord. When it
has really made that choice in action, it is possible for that force of light
to be flooded through the human being. Without interfering with freedom by free
choice, you have elected to become a warrior for God in the great period of
coming change.
Higher forces at work
Think what is happening now in this room. Here are gathered
dedicated followers of God, recognising in Sai Baba a true manifestation of God
upon earth. When a company comes together in such a setting as this, the whole
force field of vibration is raised. A higher frequency is created in this
setting. This is indeed the task of every cathedral, or temple, whatever the
religion. A point of ethereal space is created within the temple, into which a
divine being can descend into the heavy slow vibration of the earth plane
without being contaminated. The noble architecture of any temple, of whatever
religion, is enclosing sacred space and when we come into it in a mood of
prayer and dedication, we are entering a force field of high frequency linked
with the spiritual sun. As we meet here today dedicated in the service of Sai
Baba as a true manifestation of God in the human layer, we may be certain that
these energies are in fact flooding golden light into this space on a level
which our ordinary vision of course cannot as yet see.
"Droplet of God"
Remember the great truth—as in the macrocosm so in the
microcosm. The human body is the temple. That which can say "I" in you and me,
is a droplet of God, housed temporarily in a very beautiful and compact mobile
temple that is the body. You are not your body. You, the thing that can say I,
is a spiritual being, part of God and therefore axiomatically immortal and
imperishable because God is Life. For that being there literally cannot be any
death. The temple can of course be destroyed burnt, drowned, frozen, smashed,
but that does no more than release the immortal droplet of God back to source.
Humanity is really still in a pre-birth condition.
Consciousness in all of us is awakening to the divinity of the totality of
humanity of which we are each cells. At this time the divine world is so close.
The manifestation of God that we call Sai Baba has entered the Earth and not
only is there in Puttaparthi but is everywhere and is here and knows all that
each one of us is thinking. This is a most wonderful thought, but as the Greeks
said; "knowledge begins with wonder." So wonder at this.
Take the idea that we are each a droplet of God and we are
therefore one great being of Humanity. Thus if I hurt, criticise, rob or kill
you, I shall be hurting myself.
I will put this lovely idea in my heart and in my thinking. I
know that I am a divine droplet and so are you and we are therefore One on this
level. Glory be! I know that God is not far behind the stars. He is everywhere.
He, in this case, Sai Baba, is in this room and in the thinking of every one of
us. Wonder upon wonder and privilege beyond all privileges! We have been given
freedom and the forces of light will not take us over without our consent,
which the forces of darkness are prepared to do. They have no compunction about
direct attack to get hold of the human being. Therefore, what we can do is to
surround ourselves with a protective shield, or Cloak of higher light
vibration. Now, knowing that there is no true protection but in God, you would
then have absolute protection in rededicating self to this adventure of the
in-flooding of the God power. This is truly the greatest adventure that the
human being can undertake.
All of us here now are droplets of God and identifying with
the one great being which is humanity. With us in this ethereal space is not
only Sai Baba Himself, that Universal Being, but the angelic world in force.
Take that thought and fire as if it were true. You need not believe, because
these ideas are themselves living beings and therefore such an idea as I have
tried to describe will draw certainty to itself. As you live with it you come
absolutely to know what is true beyond any argument. Never argue about these
things. Remember when the great Karl Jung, in one of the last press interviews
before he died, was asked "Do you believe in God?" he replied, "No, I don't
believe in God, I know." That is a great thought. We know and we can act on
this inner knowledge. So in that sense we know validly that Sai Baba is a
universal manifestation of God and that He is present with every human being
and therefore knows everyone of our problems.
I will close with one little quatrain by James Elroy Flecker,
"Awake! Awake! the world is young
For all its weary years of thought.
The starkest fights must still be fought.
The most surprising songs be sung."
Let us sing together!
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