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| Chapter No. | Part No. | Content of the Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| NA | NA | Introduction (Preface, Foreword, A Devotee Speaks and A Thought) |
| Chapter 1 | Part 1 | In Moments of Ecstasy |
| Chapter 1 | Part 2 | In Moments of Ecstasy |
| Chapter 1 | Part 3 | In Moments of Ecstasy |
| Chapter 1 | Part 4 | In Moments of Ecstasy |
| Chapter 2 | Part 1 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 2 | Part 2 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 2 | Part 3 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 2 | Part 4 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 2 | Part 5 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 2 | Part 6 | The Heart Overflows |
| Chapter 3 | Part 1 | Listen O’ Fellow Travellers |
| Chapter 3 | Part 2 | Listen O’ Fellow Travellers |
| Chapter 3 | Part 3 | Listen O’ Fellow Travellers |
| Chapter 3 | Part 4 | Listen O’ Fellow Travellers |
| Chapter 3 | Part 5 | Listen O’ Fellow Travellers |
| Chapter 4 | Part 1 | On The Wings Of Thought |
| Chapter 4 | Part 2 | On The Wings Of Thought |
| Chapter 4 | Part 3 | On The Wings Of Thought |
| Chapter 4 | Part 4 | On The Wings Of Thought |
| Chapter 5 | Part 1 | Sai Bhakti |
| Chapter 5 | Part 2 | Sai Bhakti |
| Chapter 5 | Part 3 | Sai Bhakti |
| Chapter 5 | Part 4 | Sai Bhakti |
| Chapter 5 | Part 5 | Sai Bhakti |
Remember! Love is the foundation of bhakti. The edifice of bhakti can only be raised on the strong and magnificent foundations of love. Therefore, generate love, cultivate love, share love, distribute love and breathe love; eat love, dream of love, think of love; so much so your whole being should get saturated with love and shed the fragrance of love all around you. The veil of duality serving as a wall between you and your Sai will automatically stand demolished.
In bhakti neither one’s status in life, nor his education, nor his external attainments matter. Bhakti is the ornament of the self within, which requires to be unearthed.
The joy bhakti provides is supreme and the peace of mind it generates, the feeling of perennial support from the unseen it provides, is sublime in itself.
A bhakta should have an unflinching and abounding faith in himself and in his ‘Ishta’ (God). Since he has started treading the path of Sai bhakti, he is sure to reach the goal.
As every soul is bound by its own ‘Prarabdha’, it attains what it has earned. There should, therefore, be no feeling of rivalry in bhakti.
God is one and Sai is God. See Sai in all Gods and all Gods in Sai. Bow your head with reverence in every temple of God irrespective of religion, caste and creed.
Harbour not the desire to see Baba in the physical form, he lived on earth. Baba is formless and is in everything and everywhere. Where is he not? If you want to see him, seek him in the inner chambers of your heart.
You have seen not Baba and lived not with him but Baba should seem to be living with you perpetually.
Giving should become a habit of life. Share your food, your all with the needy and the lowly.
Have as few pictures of Baba as possible in your Puja (preferably only one), so that your attention does not get diverted and you are able to concentrate only on the chosen ‘Swaroop’ of Baba.
Accept as gospel truth the facts as contained in Shri Sai Satcharitra. Do not allow contradictory views to thaw your mind which might create doubts and may affect your bhakti. It is better to remain ignorant than carry doubts.
Seek not a Guru. The Guru shall be sent to you automatically when Baba shall consider it necessary. The search for a Guru in the present day prevailing atmosphere, in all probability is likely, to result in ultimate disappointment. So allow yourself to remain in the natural process of things. Baba himself will unfold the truth within you.
Bhakti is a many splendoured flower. When it blooms, its fragrance spreads far and wide. At that stage, the bhakta has to be extremely cautious that it does not lead to an increase in his ego as he might then squander away his bhakti gradually.
Wear not pretences of bhakti on your face or in your behavior. There is also no need to wear ochre robes or rosaries of various descriptions on your neck. Lead a normal ‘Sehaj’ life and keep on endeavouring to further add to the treasure of pure ‘Satvik’ bhakti. Infact, bhakti should lead to an increase of humility in your behavior and bearing.
Make Baba the be all and end all of your life. Every action of yours should reflect the depth of your bhakti.
Do ‘Aatm Chintan’ (Self Introspection) every night before going to sleep. Infact it should become a part of your life and living.
Never allow money to come in between you and the fellow devotees. Avoid taking and giving loans as far as possible. If it becomes necessary to help a fellow devotee, do so but not with the expectation to get it ever back.
A true bhakta should never seek any office either in the temple or in the organization raised for running the temple, for ultimately it leads to insinuations, howsoever, unblemished services you may be rendering. There are persons who are only fit to hold an office. Let them be engaged in that task.
Do not take obligations/accept favours from fellow devotees as it may later cause strains in relationship.
Remember the path of bhakti is to be travelled alone ultimately.
Be far sighted. Accept not small gifts from the Pujaris (Priests) in the temple in the form of more ‘Prasad’ or flowers as far as possible. Remember, it might later create an uncongenial situation or cast aspersions on your integrity.
Shed away the desire for recognition or for being honoured. These lead ultimately to some ill or other. Infact, a bhakta should endeavour to hide his bhakti.
Try to have a direct relationship with your Baba without any intermediary.
Do not look to the faults of others or criticize them.
Avoid collecting money in Baba’s name, more so hoarding money in temple funds as stagnant water always gets dirty. All money should be spent on the welfare of the poor and neglected. In fact, no service rendered to Baba requires show off of money and material.
Simplicity should be the hallmark of every action relating to Baba and in all Sai worship.
Remember! Every soul is perfect. One has merely to realize it.
In case it becomes incumbent on you to raise funds, never keep Baba’s money and your money in one pocket. If you do so, there is the risk of Baba’s money mixing up with yours. It should be ensured that not one paisa from out of Baba’s funds is taken into personal use by a devotee. Remember the old saying: ‘Justice should not only be done, it should seem to have been done’.
Yearn to have pure, ‘Satvik’, ‘Shubhra’ Bhakti – unalloyed and unblemished.
Remember, Sai is the Avtar of Love & Compassion. Endeavour to imbibe these traits. Sprinkle love all around you and fill your heart with compassion. Baba is waiting for you to be one with him.
Sing the leelas of Sai and sing them wholeheartedly, with tears of joy and ecstasy flowing from your eyes. The strains of music emanating from the heart shall please your Sai too.
Your bhakti should be a very sacrosanct affair with you. It should be your hard earned wealth which is to be added and not squandered away for the purpose of attaining temporary joy of name or fame.
Try not to wear the cloak of Gurudom for it might hinder your own spiritual growth but surely and certainly make it the principle of your life to guide, create and teach seekers on the path, even if it is at the cost of your own bhakti.
Bhakti cleanses the heart, making it a better place for your Sai to occupy it. Attain it while there is time for it. You are a blessed soul and a child of Sai since you have caught hold of his hand.
Remember ‘Anndaan’ is an extremely sacred a function of a devotee. But it should never be an affair of magnificence and show. Maintain and understand the difference between ‘Anndaan’ and festivity. The ‘Daan’ is given to the poor and needy, and festivity is the privilege of those who have enough to afford.
Pour out your heart while doing ‘Aarti’ of the Lord. The Puja should be a soul stirring experience and not a mere formality to please the Master. Baba knows well every pore of your body and one can hide nothing from him.
Remember! Rituals do automatically fall off when bhakti matures and becomes a part of your being. Acquire it, nurture it and sustain it.
Have firm faith that you have immense potentialities hidden within you. Discover them and use them to make your life fruitful by disseminating bhakti.
Whatever you do, feel the living presence of Baba and offer all your actions to him. Your actions shall then acquire a sanctity. Shed away the feeling of ‘Doer’. Let him play this role.
Be a mute spectator of all that is happening around you. Let ‘Maya’ play its role. Remain unaffected by that which is not your concern.
Remember the waves of bhakti are very powerful and can turn even a nonbeliever into a devotee. You continue to bathe in the bliss of Sai bhakti.
Bhakti is capable of washing away the sins of your past lives. Allow them not to hinder the flow of bhakti within you.
Nothing can harm a devotee who has surrendered himself heart and soul to his ‘Aaradhya’, not even the evil spirits. You are a pure sparkling soul unaffected by any externals. Recognize the self in you and endeavour to be one with your Sai. He shall take you beyond the seven seas.
Indulge not in cheap gimmicks such as circulating letters and the like and never make yourself a part of these. Have faith that no harm shall ever come to you if you have taken to him heart and soul.
Develop ‘Samdrishti’ – The quality of looking at every human being without any distinction of religion, caste, creed and status in life. Forget not Baba dwells in all beings.
Remember that your conduct is the mirror of your bhakti. Therefore, try to be a good kind hearted and clean human being, away from all vices and weakness of character and freeing yourself from the clutches of desires.
Miracles do happen but remember that the appearance of Udi and honey on pictures is no miracle of Baba. This is an ordinary feat attainable through ‘Siddhis’ by even ordinary men who have not made much spiritual advancement. The same is true in respect of materializing things from nowhere. A thing has existed somewhere and merely a power is used to bring it from there. Do you think Baba who is ‘Par-Brahm Parmeshwar’ will condescend to show such powers which are of a very low order in the world of spirituality? Let us not bring down our Baba from the high pedestal, he occupies. Infact, each day in the life of a devotee lived saturated with Sai bhakti, is a miracle of sorts in his life.
Wear not Sai’s name before or after your name. Of what use is the mere adoption of the name when the qualities that this sacred name signifies are not in your possession? When you shall attain the qualities entitling you to adopt Baba’s name with your name, even the desire to wear your own name would then have ceased to exist. Baba came to Shirdi nameless. Mahalsapati gave him the name ‘Sai’ which remained his recognition all his life. Never any prefixes or suffixes were added to it. The same holds good in adopting the robes of Baba. Make yourself worthy of wearing them before adopting Baba’s dress. External appearances may give worldly benefits but surely not these can confer spiritual attainments. Infact, when one is spiritually evolved, all such desires leave. It is a well-known saying: ‘An empty vessel makes much noise’. Never try to wear a distinctive look, for it shall make you conscious of yourself which may prove a hindrance in your Sadhna. Be your natural self in nurturing bhakti.
Worship him in anyway you like but pour out your heart to him. Every pore of your body should feel the thrill of your yearning for him. Cry before him, weep before him; you sob, you sing, you convey to him, whatever you like but allow not your bhakti to be bounded by the chains of rituals. When rituals drop off, you and Sai shall become one and the wall separating you from him will get demolished automatically. The currents of Joy of Shubhra, Satvik Bhakti would start flowing from your body and the whole atmosphere around you shall be drowned therein.
Sing and Sing out your heart sitting before Baba. Remember, Music is an integral part of bhakti but it should emanate from the core of heart in soft and low tones, creating waves of love leading to soothing effect on the nerves of all around.
Remember! A bhakta might dance while in ecstasy. Baba too danced while in ‘Wajd’ (ecstasy). But dancing should not be resorted to as a mere show off.
The base of bhakti is the heart. All actions in bhakti should be aimed at creating ripples of joy in the heart.
A bhakta must endeavour to efface his own identity and merge it in his ‘Aaradhaya’ rather than try to establish his own recognition.
Develop intensity of feelings and surrender to Baba like that of Kaka Saheb Dixit; who even though a pious Brahamin himself, condescended to cut the neck of the goat at the command of Baba.
Every act while performing ‘Puja and Archana’ should be based on ‘bhawna’ and not be a mere ritual.
Surrender, perfect surrender, surrender in words, deeds and thoughts to Baba leading to ‘Purna Aatm – Samarpan’ should be the aim of all your Sadhna. When you will have achieved it, you shall be one with Baba.
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Sripada Srivallabha Charitramrutam – Text in English accompanied by Videos. It is a book which will connect various dots of incidents mentioned in Sai Satcharitra with those of Lord Dattatreya and His incarnations. Subscribe us to get latest updates.
© Author – Late Shri. Suresh Chandra Gupta – Explicit Rights To Publish To Shirdi Sai Baba Books.com (Member of SaiYugNetwork.com)
