This is seventh part of chapter 6 of the divine book “Scribblings of A Shirdi Sai Devotee” written by an ardent and staunch devotee Shri Suresh Chandra Gupta ji from New Delhi.
Devotee readers who have missed earlier chapters can read from the links below.
Beads from the necklace of Sai Bhakti
55. If we have taken to the bhakti of Sai, we shall have to bring simplicity and guilelessness in our lives. The urge to get ahead of our others, the habit of telling lies, speaking ill and cheating others, etc. shall have to be eschewed from our nature. I know that you would say that by resorting to such practices, it shall become difficult for you to co-exist in this world. May be you are correct! There seems to be some depth in your point of view but but while thinking thus you forget that when you have caught hold of Sai’s hand, you have experienced His limitless Grace, you claim to be His devotee, will He then allow you to be cheated? Will He allow you to be left behind in the ongoing faith within our hearts, we shall be able to proceed ahead in our lives on the path of Bhakti without difficulty, after getting over all hurdles. If we are unable to do so, our claim to be called Baba’s devotee will remain hollow and there shall be no difference between us and others.
56. You better first take a firm decision in your mind to leave the path of untruth and having full faith in Baba, start a new chapter in life. Automatically all obstacles on your way will be cleared. May be for some time, you feel that you are left behind in the blind mad race of the present joy your ‘Atma’ will then experience will compensate for all worldly attainments. Baba is a witness to what i say. It is on the basis of my own experience of life and from the core of my heart that i write these words. This is the sum substance of my own life. You bring to into practice and then watch. Of course you must remember hat a true devotee who carries with him the grace of his God, will never experience affluence of any kind in life, which becomes the cause of misery. Have faith that by adopting this path, the fragrance emanating from your body will be helped in spreading peace and happiness all around you.
57. Experience shows that wealth is the root cause of most of our ailments. But, it is also a fact that not much can be achieved without money. On the path of bhakti we must endeavor to remain away from money as far as possible. My personal experience shows that a devotee must necessarily develop faith, which cannot be had with money, by offering rich ‘Prasad’ to ones deity, or making Baba sit on a high pedestal, decorated with flowers. In sadhna, simplicity has its own place.
58. If we merely wish that Baba should keep on fulfilling our materialistic desires – the path which most Sai devotees have chosen on date, lest us then let things remains as these are today. Let us dive deep into our heart and see whether we have taken to the bhakti of Sai, merely for the purpose of seeking worldly pleasures and accumulating more wealth or have we taken to pleasures and accumulating more wealth or have we taken to His worship to remain absorbed in him and become entitled to a little bit from the treasury of Baba full of valuables (spiritual values) which He has kept reserved for His devotees. The choice is our own.
59. Standing in front of me, the coming moment is inviting me, “I am about to come, if you can live in me, do it, otherwise i shall pass off leaving you bewildered”. Countless moments like this have been wasted by us without having been properly lived and more are passing off thus, even thought we know full well that one day our life will come to an end and our intentions, our determinations, our desire to live life full well, our hunger to leave our foot-prints on the sand of time, shall remain unfulfilled and we shall continue to live in the cycle of life and death. Our goal shall remain unachieved.
60. Baba was a mere Fakir (Mendicant). For giving music performances in His darbar are required singers imbibed with feelings of ‘Seva’ and not ‘Samrats’. Who are we attempting to deceive? Give it a thought. We must first ourselves know the Truth and then teach others. When we shall ourselves come to know the Truth, the desire to teach others shall cease. There is a limitless pleasure in being a ‘Das’. Why do we purposelessly hanker to be called ‘Emperors (Samrats) and over burden our heads unnecessarily.
Continued…Chapter 6 Part 8
More E-Books To Read
The Fragrance Of Devotion In Sai
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