THE SAI EVOLUTION: A DHARMIC ODYSSEY
By Tina Sadhwani
He is never born, and he never dies. He is in Eternity: he is for
evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die
when the body dies…
When one sees this Eternity in things that pass away and Infinity in the
finite things, then one has pure knowledge.
(Bhagavad Gita 2:20, 18:20)
It is on this sacred premise that Hinduism builds its conception of
reality wherein the boundless chain of life there exists neither birth nor
death, only endless cycles of transmutation and regeneration, culminating in
the evolution of consciousness and dynamic unfolding of the Divine Intelligence
in man. With a mind that thus peered eternity, the ancient Hindus, it is said,
had inexorably unlocked such secrets and mysteries of existence pertaining to
creation, manifestation, the universal order and human evolution, converging in
the supramental vision of Sanatan Dharma- the Eternal Truth and Divine Process
that has over many cycles of time revealed itself to us through the mystical
life and evolutionary work of many ascended gurus, rishis, yogis, seers and
avatars, all of whom have ushered in a higher world-order of love, peace,
righteousness and truth, sowing within us the seeds for a greater life and a
unified existence.
The intervention of these world teachers and avatars has always appeared
during a planetary crisis for the restoration of Dharma, which is an ascension
and expansion of all human consciousness as much as it is the external
obliteration of social evil and unrighteousness, thus effecting a profound
change in the material and spiritual world. Mystic-Sage Sri Aurobindo had once
said that “The Divine is not only Transcendent but also Cosmic and finally
Individual. Its power and force must be brought down into the world in order to
effect any real transformation in the earth-consciousness.”
And so it has been with the descent and manifestation of the sacred
lineage and unbroken chain of the Divine Sai Consciousness that has unfolded at
the outset in the physicality of Shirdi Sai Baba whose influence has initially
been known to pervade all of India, successively extending itself in the form
of Sathya Sai Baba whose presence has wielded a wider global influence,
reaching out to and transforming millions of lives in the world and which will
now continue in the extended physical form and presence of the future Prema
Sai.
This far-reaching magical web of the Sai Consciousness has indeed
powerfully transmuted and effectively empowered individual souls as well as the
world-soul in the last few hundred years. As incarnations of the Shiva and
Shakti principles, the Sai Avatars have been dynamically and unfailingly
productive and acutely conscious of their grand purpose and mission on the
planet. “I have a Task,” as Sathya Sai Baba wrote in 1947, “to foster all
mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of bliss (ananda). I have a Vow:
to lead all who stray away from the straight path again into goodness and save
them. To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack… I
will not give up my mission, nor my determination. I know I will carry them
out. I treat the honor and dishonor, the fame and blame that may be the
consequence, with equal equanimity. Internally, I am unconcerned. I act but in
the outer world; I talk and move about for the sake of the outer world… else I
have no concern even with these…I do not belong to any place; I am not attached
to any name. I answer whatever the name you use. I go wherever I am taken. I
act and move only for the sake of Mankind”.
True to his word and vision, and carrying forward the work of his
avataric predecessor Shirdi Sai, Sathya Sai Baba has progressively uplifted
millions of poor, inspired humanity and brought back into our lives the
beneficence, power and truth of Sanatan Dharma. With relentless determination,
unconditional love and powerful resolve Baba has continued to uphold his
mission and his message even after the passing of his body, as millions around
the world still continue to experience his miracles.
This superhuman power of the avatarhood, according to the Hindu
conception, is not a dividing element or a sign of man’s difference or
separation from them but is instead a tangible precursor of the enfolded
godhead inherent in every individual and a concrete expression of that same
godhead awakening in the field of human consciousness. The divine manifestation
of a Ram, a Krishna or a Buddha (or myriad other avatars of Vishnu, Shiva and
Shakti) in external humanity is indeed a reflection of the underlying unity
between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. It is a cosmic marker of the
immanent avataric power that pulses within the heart and soul of every man.
“Come back into My Consciousness, which is your own true Consciousness,” as
Sathya Sai Baba says, “Let your petty human self fade away as you come to Me,
who am your Inner Self. You are My radiant glorious Self… not separate from Me…
Merge with Me, Become Me”.
Prema Sai, the third in the line of this divine Sai lineage has been
prophesized to incarnate somewhere in South India in the coming years. His
birth and his life it is said, will complete the circle of cosmic manifestation
and descent that generates a quantum leap beyond the present limitations of
this Kali Yuga, ushering in a new world order that accelerates the long overdue
restoration of Sanatan Dharma, the Eternal Truth of life.
However, when and how the Divine Beings and Divine Events unfold within
the matrix of space and the mysterious movements of time, manifesting within
creation, is considered one of the biggest puzzles and enigmas of the universe,
for the Supreme Reality it is said functions with an intelligence and cosmic
order of its own (unfathomable by the human mind) that shapes and organizes the
universe and all its events and processes in ways that reveals itself to us
only at the ‘right time’, which is in fact considered the ‘divine timing’ and
grand synchronistic scheming of all the Shakti-laden forces and rhythmic
currents of Nature.
Yet, regardless of prophesies, timelines, events, dates or their physical
form, the truth, supreme secrets and mysteries of the Avatars are absorbed more
through their continually unfolding work and through their message which
expresses itself in their lives and in the personal realization and direct
experiences of those who connect with them and their mission on a deeper level.
For of what use is it to passively admire and honour these Divine Beings
if we cannot actively work towards and serve the mission for which they have
come into this world? The grand mission and collective undertaking which indeed
links man’s higher life-purpose to that of the Avatars themselves. Hence to
rise above our ego-bound needs and petty concerns, to cognize our greater
destiny in this universe, to widen our vision and embrace all of existence so
that we may become the blazing sparks of that one Supreme fire, the
illuminating emblems of that one Absolute reality and dynamic instruments of
that one Divine Will is indeed the true fulfilment and realization of Dharma on
earth.
As Sathya Sai Baba says in his own words, “I have come to give you the
key of the treasure of ananda (immortal bliss), to teach you how to tap that
spring, for you have forgotten the way to blessedness…You have come to get from
me tinsel and trash, the petty little cures and promotions, worldly joys and
comforts. Very few of you desire to get from me the thing that I have come to
give you: namely, liberation itself”.
Considering the grand purpose for which the Sai Avatars have been
appearing and the dharmic mission towards which they have been uncompromisingly
dedicated, every Sai devotee bears a greater responsibility now in joining
forces for upholding and carrying forward this majestic vision and
world-transforming mission. “I want you in this world. I want beacons of light
in the world,” said Sathya Sai Baba once to Isaac Tigrett, “the world must be
purified in this age… this wonderful age that we are blessed to have been born
into”.
Just as Ayodhya once waited eagerly for the return of its dharmic hero
Lord Ram, the Sai devotees wait patiently, and through continuing dedicated
work prepare the stage for the arrival of Prema Sai whose extended mission and
dharmic journey will now continue in the years to come to uplift mankind in the
dawning of the new golden age.
Though I am unborn, though I am imperishable in my self-existence, though
I am the Lord of all existences, yet I stand upon my own Nature and I come into
birth by my internal potency. Whenever and wherever there is a decline of
righteousness and the uprising of unrighteousness, at that time I manifest
personally. For the deliverance of the good and the annihilation of evil and to
fully establish Dharma, I appear millennium after millennium.
(Bhagavad Gita 4.6-8)
OUR LIFE IS HIS MESSAGE
Sai Ram
__._,_.___
.
__,_._,___
