AUM SRI SAI RAM - Global Akhand Bhajan
Global Akhand Bhajan conducted by Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation Mumbai
for peace and prosperity of humanity will shall be held at the following venues
from 6.00 pm Saturday 9th Nov 2013 to 6.00 pm Sunday 10th Nov 2013
Zone 1 – (Fort, Walkeshwar, Tardeo, Worli, Shivaji Park samithi) – at
Community Hall, Lokhandwala Residency Tower, L.R.Papan Marg, Gandhi Nagar,
Worli, Mumbai 400 018.
Zone 2 – (Bandra, Andheri, Malad – Jogeshwari, Borivali Samithi) –at
Dharmakshetra, Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri East, Mumbai – 400 093.
Zone 3 – (Sion –Wadala, Chembur, Ghatkopar,Mulund Samithi) – at Samriddhi
Saaisha Banquests, 1st Floor, Neelyog Square Mall, R.B. Mehta Marg, Patel
Chowk, Opp. Ghatkopar Station, Ghatkopar – East, Mumbai – 400 077.
Akhand Bhajans Programmes in Mumbai (Download 489.5 kb)
http://www.dharmakshetra.org.in/dknews13/GABMumbai-2013.pdf
All about Akhand Bhajans - An Exposition by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
(Download 6.91 mb)
http://www.dharmakshetra.org.in/dknews13/akhandbhajans-13.pdf
A Question On Sadhana…
Thursday, October 24th, 2013
Sadhana is essentially the pathway to God. To reach the destination one has to
be devoted to the chosen path with all earnestness. ….and along with it comes
certain pre-requisites and essentials that entail the spirited journey… Dr John
Hislop writes in detail… extracted from Sanathana Sarathi. Janurary 1980.
You say that you have been reading the various Sai books, but do not understand
what Sadhana is, or what to do in Sadhana.
Swami tells us that Sadhana is the process of getting what we want, and it has
three aspects. First, there is “vritti”, which means attraction to that which
we want. Without this longing for what we want, Sadhana cannot get under way.
But this “vritti” is not enough. The second factor of Sadhana is confidence in
oneself. We need self confidence, that we have the ability to get what we want.
However, longing for that which we want and confidence that we have the
strength and talent to get it is still not enough. The third factor is action.
Without action nothing happens. We have to actually gain what we want and make
it ours.
Baba tells us that this triple Sadhana is as effective for worldly ends as for
spiritual life. In other words, that which is the object of your longing and
your action, you will get if you are brave and have strong confidence in
yourself.
The awesome power implicit in this triple Sadhana is a secret, unknown to the
general public but revealed to devotees who study Lord Sathya Sai Baba. Triple
Sadhana is a Divine guarantee, so to speak, that by the intense application of
Sadhana to your life, you will get what you want. This being so, it is of the
greatest importance to discriminate between your many desires before you engage
in the Sadhana that will get what you want.
What is worth wanting? What is worthy of Sadhana? Surely it is only that which
will truly and fully satisfy your desire.
What is desire? Desire is God, expressed as a vital force of your life. Who are
you? You are the highest; in your inner most being your potential is Divine.
Will the low satisfy the highest? No! No value that is lesser than the Divine
will truly and fully satisfy, desire. Only God is worth wanting. Only the
Highest is worthy to be the object of Sadhana. No beauty short of Him, no
treasure short of Him, no power short of His; nothing that is lesser than He,
will totally and finally satisfy and bring to an end the torment of unrequited
desire. Lord Sathya Sai is the eternal Beloved in each person’s heart, and
desire will not be fulfilled so long as there is separation between the Beloved
and oneself.
You are a Sai devotee, and thus you already have in your daily life the first
two aspects of Sadhana. That is, you have sacred love for Him and are mightily
attracted to Him. And your spiritual search is the evidence that you have the
strength and confidence to do Sadhana. What you are puzzled about is the action
aspect of Sadhana.
Why are you puzzled even while studying the Sai books? If I may venture to
guess, there are too many impressions coming all at once about what to do:
Mentioned in the books are a number of different activities and each one is
called “Sadhana”. In this context Swami has given us a very important principle
which merits your best attention.
Swami points out that a box may contain a hundred or more matches, each one of
which is potential fire. But He asks us to consider that only one small feeble
match is needed to start a huge forest fire that consumes everything in its
path; even green and wet wood is burnt to ashes. There is no need to strike a
hundred matches to start a big fire. A skilful and careful striking of one
match will start a fire.
By this example Swami is telling us to do one Sadhana action and do it with the
whole heart and mind. And, that is enough; the rest will inevitably follow.
For your Sadhana action, why not take the action of which Swami speaks most
often. In this context He declares that sacred love is the Royal Highway td
God. You already love and long for Sathya Sai; what is the action that
corresponds to that sacred love? Well, by virtue of His Divine Grace, Swami
even tells us this.
He Whom we love, we wish to behold and be with, all the time. So all the time
have Lord Sathya Sai, the Beloved, as your Guide, Protector, Constant Companion
ever loving and affectionate, despite your human faults, call upon Him to
bestow His Grace and be with you always. He assures us that He hears and ever
responds if you repeat His Name with sacred love and visualize His Form in your
mind.
This is the action to complete Sai Sadhana, the repetition of the Sai Name with
love and reverence, “Sai Ram, Sai Ram, Sai Ram,” and the visualization of the
Sai Form—this Sadhana action from the working hour to the sleeping hour. When
duty calls during the day and you must concentrate on your work, then in your
mind address the Lord and tell Him that you are dedicating every moment of the
work to His glory—then go ahead with full confidence and do your work. Swami
says that dedication of your work and the result of your work to Him is
tantamount to the repetition of His Name, and in this way the Name continues in
mind and heart from the working hour to the sleeping hour.
sourced:
http://www.theprasanthireporter.org/2013/10/a-question-on-sadhana/
How easy it is to seek Brahma-Jnana?
Saturday, October 26th, 2013
How highly one could…or how lightly one could treat the theory of
Brahma-Jnana…? The best answer comes from a “live-example”, from the time of
Shirdi Sai, wherein Bhagawan presented an episode, of a rich, naive man’s
ambition to see Brahman. What was Shirdi Sai’s precepts to the ‘worldly one’ …
a beautiful episode from Shirdi Sai Satcharita.
There was a rich gentleman who was very prosperous in his life. He had amassed
a large quantity of wealth, houses, field and lands, and had many servants and
dependents. When Baba’s fame reached his ears, he said to a friend of his, that
he was not in want of anything, and so he would go to Shirdi and ask Baba to
give him Brahma-Jnana which, if he got, would certainly make him more happy.
His friend dissuaded him, saying, “it is not easy to know Brahman, and
especially so for an avaricious man like you, who is always engrossed in
wealth, wife and children. Who will, in your quest of Brahma-Jnana, satisfy you
that won’t give away even a paisa in charity?”
Not minding his friend’s advice, the fellow engaged a return-journey tonga
(horse drawn carriage) and came to Shirdi. He went to the Masjid, saw Sai Baba,
fell at His Feet and said, “Baba, hearing that You show the Brahman to all who
come over here without any delay, I have come here all the way from my distant
place. I am much fatigued by the journey and if I get the Brahma-Jnana from
You, my troubles will be well-paid and rewarded.” Baba then replied, “Oh, My
dear friend, do not be anxious, I shall immediately show you the Brahman; all
My dealings are in cash and never on credit. So many people come to Me, and ask
for wealth, health, power, honour, position, cure of diseases and other
temporal matters. Rare is the person, who comes here to Me and asks for
Brahma-Jnana. There is no dearth of persons asking for wordly things, but as
persons interested in spiritual matters are very rare, I think it a lucky and
auspicious moment, when persons like you come and press Me for Brahma-Jnana. So
forthwith, I show to you with pleasure, the Brahman with all its accompaniments
and complications.”
Saying this, Baba started to show him the Brahman. He made him sit there and
engaged him in some other talk or affair and thus made him forget his question
for the time being. Then He called a boy and told him to go to one Nandu
Marwari, and get from him a hand-loan of Rs. five. The boy left and returned
immediately, saying that Nandu was absent and his house ws locked. Then Baba
asked him to go to Bala grocer and get from him, the said loan. This time also,
the boy was unsuccessful. This experiment was repeated again twice or thrice,
with the same result.
Sai Baba was, as we know, the living and moving Brahman Incarnate. Then, some
one may ask – “Why did He want the paltry sum of five rupees, and why did He
try hard to get it on loan? Really He did not want that sum at all. He must
have been fully knowing, that Nandu and Bala were absent, and he seems to have
adopted this procedure as a test for the seeker of Brahman. That gentleman had
a roll or bundle of currency notes in his pocket, and if he was really earnest,
he would not have sat quiet and be a mere onlooker, when Baba was frantically
trying to get a paltry sum of Rs. five. He knew that Baba would keep His word
and repay the debt, and that the sum wanted was insignificant. Still he could
not make up his mind and advance the sum. Such a man wanted from Baba the
greatest thing in the world, viz., the Brahma-Jnana! Any other man, who really
loved Baba, would have at once given Rs. five, instead of being a mere
onlooker. It was otherwise with this man. He advanced no money nor did he sit
silent, but began to be impatient, as he was in a haste to return and implored
Baba saying- “Oh Baba, please show me the Brahman soon.” Baba replied – “Oh my
dear friend, did you not understand all the procedure that I went through,
sitting in this place, for enabling you to see the Brahman? It is, in short
this. For seeing Brahman one has to give five things, i.e. surrender five
things viz. (1) Five Pranas (vital forces), (2) Five senses (five of action and
five of perception), (3) mind, (4) intellect and (5) ego. This path of
Brahma-Jnana of self-realization is ‘as hard as to tread on the edge of a
razor’.
Sai Baba then gave rather a long discourse on the subject, the purport of which
is given below
Qualifications for Brahma-Jnana or Self-Realization
All persons do not see or realize the Brahman in their life-time. Certain
qualifications are absolutely necessary.
(1) Mumukshu or intense desire to get free. He, who thinks that he is bound and
that he should get free from bondage and works earnestly and resolutely to that
end; and who does not care for any other thinks, is qualified for the spiritual
life.
(2) Virakti or a feeling of disgust with the things of this world and the next.
Unless a man feels disgusted with the things, emoluments and honors, which his
action would bring in this world and the next, he has no right to enter into
the spiritual realm.
(3) Antarmukhata (introversion). Our senses have been created by God with a
tendency to move outward and so, man always looks outside himself and not
inside. He who wants self-realization and immortal life, must turn his gaze
inwards, and look to his inner Self.
(4) Catharsis from (Purging away of) sins. Unless a man has turned away from
wickedness, and stopped from doing wrong, and has entirely composed himself and
unless his mind is at rest, he cannot gain self-realization, even by means of
knowledge.
(5) Right Conduct. Unless, a man leads a life of truth, penance and insight, a
life of celibacy, he cannot get God-realization.
(6) Preferring Shreyas, (the Good) to Preyas (the Pleasant). There are two
sorts of things viz., the Good and the Pleasant; the former deals with
spiritual affairs, and the latter with mundane matters. Both these approach man
for acceptance. He has to think and choose one of them. The wise man prefers
the Good to the Pleasant; but the unwise, through greed and attachment, chooses
the Pleasant.
(7) Control of the mind and the senses. The body is the chariot and the Self is
its master; intellect is the charioteer and the mind is the reins; the senses
are the horses and sense-objects their paths. He who has no understanding and
whose mind is unrestrained, his senses unmanageable like the vicious horses of
a charioteer, does not reach his destination (get realization), but goes
through the round of births and deaths; but he who has understanding and whose
mind is restrained, his senses being under control, like the good horse of a
charioteer, reaches that place, i.e., the state of self-realization, when he is
not born again. The man, who has understanding as his charioteer (guide) and is
able to rein his mind, reaches the end of the journey, which is the supreme
abode of the all-pervading, Vishnu (lord).
(8) Purification of the mind. Unless a man discharges satisfactorily and
disinterestedly the duties of his station in life, his mind will not be
purified and, unless his mind is purified, he cannot get self-realization. It
is only in the purified mind that Viveka (discrimination between the Unreal and
the Real), and Vairagya (Non-attachment to the unreal) crop up and lead on the
self-realization. Unless egoism is dropped, avarice got rid of, and the mind
made desireless (pure), self-realization is not possible. The idea that ‘I am
the body’ is a great delusion, and attachment to this idea is the cause of
bondage. Leave off this idea and attachment therefore, if you want to reach the
goal of Self-realization.
(9) The necessity of a Guru. The knowledge of the self is so subtle and mystic,
that no one could, by his own individual effort ever hope to attain it. So the
help of another person-Teacher, who has himself got self-realization is
absolutely necessary. What others cannot give with great labour and pains, can
be easily gained with the help of such a Teacher; for he has walked on the path
himself and can easily take the disciple, step by step on the ladder of
spiritual progress.
(10) and lastly the Lord’s Grace is the most essential thing. When the Lord is
pleased with any body, He gives him Viveka and Vairagya; and takes him safe
beyond the ocean of mundane existence, “The Self cannot be gained by the study
of Vedas, nor by intellect, nor by much learning. He, whom the Self chooses, by
him It is gained. To him the Self reveals Its nature”, says the Katha Upanishad.
After the dissertation was over, Baba turned to the gentleman and said – “Well
sir, there is in your pocket the Brahma (or Mammon) in the form of fifty-times
five (Rs.250/-) rupees; please take that out.” The gentleman took out from his
pocket the bundle of currency notes, and to his great surprise found, on
counting them, that there were 25 notes of 10 rupees each, Seeing this
ominiscience of Baba, he was moved and fell at Baba’s Feet and craved for His
blessings. Then Baba said to him, “Roll up your bundle of Brahma viz. Currency
notes. Unless you get rid completely of your avarice or greed, you will not get
the real Brahma. How can be, whose mind is engrossed in wealth, progeny and
prosperity, expect to know the Brahma, without removing away his attachment for
the same? The illusion of attachment or the love for money is a deep eddy
(whirlpool) of pain full of crocodiles in the form of conceit and jealousy. He,
who is desireless, can alone cross this whirlpool. Greed and Brahma are as
poles asunder, they are eternally opposed to each other. Where there is greed,
there is no room for thought or meditation of the Brahma. Then how can a greedy
man get dispassion and salvation? For a greedy man there is no peace, neither
contentment, nor certainty (steadiness). If there be even a little trace of
greed in mind, all the Sadhanas (spiritual endeavors) are of no avail. Even the
knowledge of a well-read man, who is not free from the desire of the fruit or
reward of his actions, and who has got no disgust for the same, is useless and
can’t help him in getting self-realization. The teachings of a Guru are of no
use to a man, who is full of egoism, and who always thinks about the
sense-objects. Purification of mind is absolutely necessary; without it, all
our spiritual endeavors are nothing, but useless show and pomp. It is,
therefore, better for one to take only what he can digest and assimilate. My
treasury is full, and I can give anyone, what he wants, but I have to see
whether he is qualified to receive what I give. If you listen to Me carefully,
you will be certainly benefited. Sitting in this Masjid, I never speak any
untruth.”
When a guest is invited to a house, all the members of the household and other
friends and relations that happen to be present, are entertained, along with
the guest. So all those that were present in the Masjid at this time, could
partake of the spiritual feast, that was served by Baba for the rich gentleman.
After getting Baba’s blessings, one and all, including the gentleman left the
place quite happy and contented.
II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II
sourced:
http://www.theprasanthireporter.org/2013/10/how-easy-it-is-to-seek-brahma-jnana/
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