Stray Thought!
on Various Aspects of Sai Worship
(Adopted from Scribbings of a Shirdi Sai Devotee)
All His life,
Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi lived a most frugal, unassuming and simple life. He
lived in a dilapidated mosque, wore a torn Kami, slept with a brick under His
head, begged His food from a few houses every day and shared it with the
poorest of the poor and animals alike. All those claiming to be His Avtar or
Guru / Sadguru in His name but who live a life absolutely contradictory to the
life of Baba, could they be deemed to be near about Baba? These Avtars and
Gurus ride big limousines, wear silken robes; live in splendour in big palatial
buildings, remain inaccessible to an ordinary poor devotee and at every step
differentiate between the rich and poor, the high and the low. Are they really
espousing the principles Baba stood for? Let both the Gurus and the devotees
ponder calmly on what they are doing. No aspersion or denigration of anybody is
intended but doesn't it provide food for thought?
*******
Towards the
later part of His earthly life, Baba accepted Dakshina from devotees coming for
His darshan. Large sums of money were thus collected. Baba distributed this
money amongst those around Him and whatever was left, He would empty His pocket
before going to sleep saying "Enough of it; go and bury yourself."
The Gurus of today as also those running temples in Baba's name, are all
collecting huge amounts of money from the public and in most cases piling these
up in banks or spending them on adding more glamour to their temples / ashrams,
to keep their name and fame going. They spend little, if any, on humanitarian
activities for the upliftment of the poor and the needy who were so dear to
Baba. Let us ponder calmly if this is the path shown by Baba? Moreover, the
money so accumulated, becomes the cause of infighting amongst the management in
temples and ashrams and an ordinary devotee who visits these places to find
solace at the feet of Baba or to pray to Him and seek from Him answers to his
problems of life, fails to experience the peace and serenity which such a place
should exude, if there were no conflicts in the minds of the management. Surely
even mental reservations pollute the atmosphere and affect the vibrations of
the place.
A thought has
always agitated my mind as to how a Guru or Sadguru could bring himself round
to accept the situation in which his own picture is kept and worshipped on the
same pedestal as that of Baba? One must have taken to the path of Baba by
becoming a devotee initially and later elevated himself to the stature of Guru
/ Sadguru. It is unimaginable and beyond comprehension that a pure devotee
would ever allow his own picture to be kept and worshipped on the same platform
along with that of his Aradhya'. There has been a large galaxy of sages and
saints in India who in their own life time reached godhood, for example; Ramana
Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Nam Deo, Tukaram, Eknath Maharaj, and many
others. In their life time they did rot allow their own picture to be
worshipped along with that of their chosen deity.
According to
our scriptures (in this case Sai Satcharita) only the one who is capable of
making us dwell in the self and taking us beyond the ocean of wordly existence,
is in fact capable of being our sadguru. Have the gurus of today reached this
stage?
Baba had, in
His lifetime, stated that His Guru had not given Him any Guru Mantra. How could
then He be expected to give one to any devotee. The gurus of today many a time
give Guru Mantra to their followers. Are they following Baba in thought and
deeds?
I sometimes
wonder if Baba's own way of living and functioning has lost relevance today or
I, an ordinary person striving to be His bhakta, is unable to understand the
purport of His life and living. I shall be extremely grateful if somebody could
throw some light on this subject.
My experience
onto the path of Sai bhakti has instilled in me a feeling that it is easier to
be a Guru but extremely difficult to be a Bhakta. I wish, I am wrong. This
feeling of mine has been corroborated by a remark made by Shri Ramakrishna
Paramhamsa and which has recently come to my notice: "Gurus can be had by
the thousands, but rare is a disciple."
In some
temples, it has been seen that the Guru has a separate chamber furnished with
relish, where he receives his disciples. While Baba in the same temple sits on
a rugged stone, the Guru in his chamber sits on thick mattresses. What a
splendid display of bhakti?
*******
I have read in
a book recently that a known Guru within no time of his accepting Baba in his
life and experiencing His grace, turned into a Guru himself and many devotees
started seeking his guidance. If a bull can be made to recite the Vedas through
the Grace of God, surely a man could reach any heights in no time on account of
his 'Prarabdha'. But in such a case, the change should be total and not
partial.
It is difficult
for human beings to remain away from the snare of Maya. Human brain easily
succumbs to the pleasantries of the make believe world of its own creation and
falls prey to all that sounds pleasant to the ears. The path to godliness is
very thorny and is difficult to tread without the Sadguru's Kripa. To quote a
passage from my diary: "Beautiful words, shining ideas, attractive dreams
and fine images are the golden lid which keep the face of Truth covered from
our sight. Ifs this veil woven of the golden threads of human imagination and
its fond hopes that hides the Sun of Truth from our view." The same way
the Gurus of today get lost in Maya when their henchman talk of experiencing
their potential in some way or the other. In actual fact, it is a mere camouflage
of the reflection of guru's own ego. Let us give this matter a deep thought.
Kindly allow me
to recite a true story in this connection. A certain person, who had been
selected to head an Ashram after the demise of its existing incumbent, was
studying in Allahabad University. He was living in the hostel. Lots of pure
ghee, dry fruits and other varieties of rich foodstuff were sent to him for his
consumption by the Ashram. This young man would however, distribute all this
stuff amongst his fellow hosteliers and himself ate very little out of it. When
his friends asked him as to why he did so, his reply was that his guru had
taught him to eat only a little and that too only satvik food, and since these
eatables, were tamsik in nature, he was shunning their use.
Later on when
after the death of his Guru, this person took over that ashram, the first thing
he did was to get the door of his room removed. According to him, this he did
so, the reason that there should be absolutely nothing in the Iife of
a person who led others, which should remain concealed from the public gaze. In
fact, Sai Baba's life was also an open book for anybody to read.
The predecessor
of this young Guru ate food sitting on a high pedestal along with other
ashramites sitting on the floor and in gold and silver utensils. He gave up
this practice. He would take his food in ordinary utensils sitting along with
the ashramites as also serve them with his own hands. Later he consolidated all
the funds of the Ashram and spent these on opening 30 schools where the poor
children received free education.