This is eighth and last 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
61. Everyday the Sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The moon, the stars, the earth, the air, all maintain the regular flow of their existence and achieve the purpose for which intended. It is only the man, whom God had endowed with power to think rationally and understand, power to maintain its hold to an extent over natural resources, the independence to act, who many a time makes himself helpless. Neither he lives himself, nor allows others to live. What a great fallacy it is!
62. Baba! When some people in Your name request me to bestow my blessings on them, i do not know what to do. When you have not bestowed anything more than others on me, how on earth can i share a little bit out of it with them? Yes, one thing, that i have now started doing is to tell them, that my Baba, sitting infront of me is listening to your request; when He showers His Grace on everyone, surely He will do so on you also. Have firm faith in Him and hold on to Him steadfastly. “Baba! Kindly tell me truly that i am not doing anything wrong? When i do no possess anything in particular and am myself seeking Your Grace in an attempt to attain Your devotion, what can i give to others?
63. Baba! My thinking has been that one could not attain much only by reciting Your name from the tip of the tongue like a parrot. But yesterday in the quielitude of night, when Your “Naam Jaap” was going on, i had a wonderful feeling and automatically i too started chanting Your name loudly and participate in the ‘Sankirtan’. At that point of time, i experienced that ‘Naam Jaap’ touches the chords of heart, the body feels its vibration, the eyes become moist and the soul experiences immense joy.
64. All around us is spread the light of God’s Grace which provides bliss to the soul. We have merely to develop the power to see through this light after delving deep within our heart, so that the wall of differentiation standing before us, gets demolished.
65. Bhakti is, neither something to be shown off nor the subject of competition. We must not, therefore, allow ourself to get entangled in the web being woven by an ever increasing number of Baba’s devotees around themselves and pollute the path shown by Baba. We must keep ourselves under control and deal with our fellow devotees with humility and share our bhakti with others as much as is necessary. The amount of bhakti we share with others without ego, more than that shall be added to our own. We are nobody to assess or measure the bhakti of others. We should not even attempt to do so. Every man has to complete his own journey.
66. On the path of Sadhna, we must never harbour the desire to acquire supernatural powers. If we do so, it shall become the cause of our own downfall. The ego born out of their acquisition shall eat away even the principal amount of our own earning. Baba has limitless powers. He is Parbrahma Manifest. We must not try to bring Him down from His high pedestal by associating His name with small small every day situations, calling Him a Miracle Man or spreading stories of His Grace experienced in our everyday life. Recognizing His Parbrahma Swaroop, we must develop the habit of seeing His hand in everything around us and in every situation. We shall then surely progress in our journey towards Baba.
67. A bhakta must develop the desire in him to give rather than to take. By virtue of your holding an office in your deity’s name, you may come across occasions when you command immense powers to give. At that time, you must not allow the greed to take root with you to enjoy any privilege but allow it to be passed on to the organisation, you represent.
68. A Persian proverb says, “one who knows, does not speak”. This is an absolute truth. Try to speak as little as possible and preserve your energies within. Never allow yourself to be attracted towards people who claim nearness to Baba, who claim to know Him more and have attained supernatural powers. Words are not required to express one’s attainments. The whole exterior of a person reveals the man in him.
69. Easier it is to dye our clothes in ochre colour (ochre colour signifies renunuciation) but almost impossible it is to dye our heart and mind into that colour. Just give it a thought. Who we are trying to befool by wearing ochre robes? When we shall have dyed our heart into that colour, the need to dye the robes shall cease.
Bow to Sai, Peace be to all
Continued…Chapter 7 Part 1
More E-Books To Read
The Fragrance Of Devotion In Sai
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