SEEK KNOCK AND ASK

"The Splendour of the Avatar is like that of a million Suns. Yet his grace is as coot and pleasant as that of a million Moons".

"I am equally approachable to one and all,

big and small,

Through all the various paths upon which is

heard divine call.

lam approachable alike to the saint

Whom I adore,

And to the sinners who I am for,

And equally through Sufism, Vedantism Christianity

Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and other "Isms"

of every kind, and also directly through no "Ism" at all".

" I get angry with none. Will a mother get angry with her kiddies?

Will the ocean send back the water to the several rivers?

I love devotion. I am the salves of my devotee, bhakta paradheena."

BABA

Man usually thanks God for the good things that come, but does not thank Him for the things that seem to be bad. That is where people generally are wrong, because man always feels that life is a problem to be solved, but does not understand that it is a reality to be experienced.

So also people know, but do not realise, that human birth is the most precious one and it is only human being, that is given the sacred opportunity by the Almighty for spiritual evolution and self-realisation. But the subjective delusion creates for man the objective worlds of sorrows and imperfections.

In the usual turmoil of life, amidst the jolts, blows and shocks that man is subjected to, it is only strong faith in Divinity, Saints, God or Godmen, if solidly reposed and developed, becomes the armour and protection which sustains him to bear through.

Individual souls are many, and they are parts of Brahman. They are related to Him as are the rays of the Sun to the Sun. They are neither absolutely different from god, nor are they absolutely identical with him. In the state of bondage, that is ignorance, individual souls are different from God, and in the state of liberation, that is knowledge, they become one with Him. To the Self, purified by spiritual discipline, is revealed the knowledge of Brahman, and as the Self finally becomes one with Brahman, all consciousness of separation is dissolved.

Here the question in Mahabharata put to Yudhishtira by the Yaksha "KA DIK", meaning "which is the right direction or guidance to follow" is the pointer or guidance to follow" for everybody to ruminate. The reply Yudhishthira said to have given is:- "SANTO-DIK" meaning, the direction marked out by the lives of Saints". This implies that saints indeed are the beacon light house to guide the mariner on the high seas on his voyage to the port of destination. The lives and messages of saints, similarly, light the path of men and guide them to reach the life's goal, that is realisation of God, adhering to the processes and path of self- retrospection, self-purification, self-observation, self-restraint, self-sacrifice and self-reform and self-realisation.

Through endless time God's greatest gift is continuously given in silence. But when mankind becomes completely deaf to the thunder of His silence, god incarnates as man. The unlimited assumes the limited, to shake maya drugged humanity to a consciousness of its true destiny and thereby give a spiritual push to the world by His physical presence on earth. He uses the physical body for His universal work, to be discarded in final sacrifice as soon as it has served it's purpose.

In this context the life, messages and role of Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi of recent age that wield unprecedented and colossal impact on the masses come to one's mind. According to the Vedic scriptures, all human beings are made of Five basic elements of Pancha Mahabhuta and in addition to the Five basic elements, human beings have mind, intelligence and ego, that constitute Eight factors of Ashta-Prakruti. This Ashta-Prakruti in conjunction with accumulated action (Karma) from all the past lives, control and direct all the actions of individuals in the present life and these actions triggered by Chaitanya within, is the energy which is all pervading and imperishable that manifests in different forms according to the needs of the occasion. This Chaitanya in human being is only a little spark of divinity, the Supreme Power called Param Brahman or Brahmanda Nayak. Sri Sai Baba is the personified Brahmanda Nayak who always takes care of devotees, those who have totally surrendered to him. This Brahmanda Nayak is indestructible in nature. Though it seems that it takes birth, it's eternal nature is not destroyed.

Generally human beings are usually under the total influence of their Karmic balance; but the controller of the numberless Universe; BABA, know the past, present and future of every individual and even though he can control the actions of all souls, normally He guides only those who have wholeheartedly surrendered to Him by motivating their actions for the good of the devotees and through them the mankind. But also in the process, he used to put to severe test such devotees to free them from the worldly dross.

In this aspect he is called the KARTUM. He changes the devotees' course of action which may be apparently good but is ultimately harmful. He can, if he so desires, divert the course of such action and therefore referred as AKARTUM. The fate of the cumulative effects of all the past actions plays an important part in the course of the life of every individual in the shape of calamities, obstructions, accidents or even death. The Supreme Power of The Brahmanda Nayak can change the course of the fate at His will and protect the individual to fulfil his desire, thereby is referred to as ANYTHA-KARTUM. Baba was a is known as having Kartum. Akartum, Anyatha-kartum Power which is still continuing in its own natural and vigorous ways.

As the sea does not invite the rivers to come to it, but rivers get irresistibly drawn to the sea and the flower though does not invite the bee, but the bee is helplessly drawn to it, likewise people of all strata, caste, colour, creed and religion, millions in number, were automatically attracted and drawn to the feet of Sri Sai Baba in the past and naturally to His fold at present, seeking Him like a child that seeks its mother, although Baba never personally invites any body to be His dependent, disciple or to perform worship to Him. Baba in his own way was and is giving His devotees temporal and spiritual benefits, who rejected the rigidity and evils of the traditional caste system and was committed to the revolutionary spirit of equality, brotherhood and monotheism.

When one looks to Sri Sai Satcharitra it reminds him of the Divine Assurance, "Meditate always on my formless nature, which is knowledge incarnate, consciousness and bliss. If you cannot do this, meditate on My Form from top to toe as you see here night and day. As you continue to do this, your Vrittis will be one pointed and the distinction between the dhyata (meditator), dhyana (act of meditation), dhyeya (thing meditated upon) will be lost; and the meditator will be one with the consciousness and be merged in the Brahman". "Whenever a devotee has complete and wholehearted devotion to Sai Baba, all his calamities and dangers are warded off and his welfare is attended to by Baba". Baba also often used to tell "My treasury is full, I can give any one what he wants, but I have to see whether he is qualified to receive my gifts". Undoubtedly material benefits were conferred openly in the miracles Baba performed, but spiritual guidance for reformation of man was more concealed behind such incomprehensible and incredible miracles. What was the spectacular peculiarity and speciality in the saint of Shirdi that continues the perennial impact on the masses ? Usually people have and might have come across many saints who would forget their body and surroundings and then return to them. But Sri Sai Baba was constantly both in and outside the material world and was always in the all knowing state. BABA the great saint, born Avadhoot, the incarnation of Lord Sri Dattatreya, reconciles action and actionlessness and reaches actionlessness through action, beyond which there is nothing else to be obtained.

He was every moment exercising a dual consciousness, actively utilizing the ego called Sai Baba and dealing with other egos in temporal or spiritual affairs, transcending all egos, abiding in the state of universal soul. He was constantly exercising and manifesting the powers and features proper to both states of consciousness and was the discrimination and dispassion incarnate. He was a saint of saints who was always in His own mood as if playing with Himself and was a youth among the youths, Aged among the old, Bravest among the Brave, Child among children, Poorest among the poor and Richest among the rich.

Baba, the embodiment of wisdom, Gyanamurthi, who feels the oneness and kinship with all the creatures had overflowing love for all. Though He acted as a Mendicant (Fakir) He was always engrossed in the Self, loved all beings in whom He saw only God or divinity, and was never elated in pleasure nor ever depressed by any adverse position. A King and pauper were the same to Him. His glance would turn a beggar into a king. He used to beg His food from door to door to shower grace on the donor. His mere presence was sanctifying, His silence was a sermon. His glance was a blessing, His touch can bring a spiritual change and transformation. Who can adequately describe His glorious characteristics as all speech is powerless and human faculties fail in such an attempt!

He was returning good for evil and was blessing those who vociferously criticised and cursed Him. His heart was the storehouse of love and compassion which thirst for the upliftment of the suffering humanity. The welfare of all the people was His sole concern and for that only, He was pouring spiritual grace with the purpose of instilling faith so that mankind is put on the Godward path and is uplifted, adhering to the principles of human values. We can call Him the spiritual washerman who was constantly applying the soap of devotion and water of knowledge for removing the dross in the worldly man.

Miracles that spontaneously flowed from Him were meant only for the purpose of reformation and was not for display. He sported with His Leelas and still He was unaffected by them. Baba the Eternal Avatar of God"s spirit of self-dedication was for the salvation of all creatures. His mysterious personality is interpreted by every body in his own way but no interpretation could give a complete picture of Him. His absolute divinity is being accepted today in the eyes and experiences of thousands or even millions of devotees around the world. His divine status was substantiated by demonstration. Prayers answered, appears in dreams or visions to offer healing or tangible help, even appearances in flesh occasionally to help the devotees more than Eighty Five years after the physical demise.

He was conferring on people what they desire (physically and worldly well being) so that they will eventually begin to desire what He really desires to give them i.e. the necessary motivation and inspiration for spiritual development and

this process of benediction and grace is still magnificently continuing more vigorously as before. He used to teach according to the disciple's state of mind, capacity and purity. His method was actually remarkable, unforgettable and sometimes even humorous, unheared of and unorthodox.

As Gold has to be put in fire and hammered on the anvil before it frees itself from the dross to attain Purity, so also through the process of determined Sadhana one is to endeavour and be inspired to practise patience, perseverance, faith and morality that becomes the four pillars on which rests the monument of spiritual experience and illumination.

In the process one gets the awareness of what is important and what is not, the required power of discrimination and courage to renounce the temporary, the trivial, in favour of the eternal and everlasting, difference between self gratification and self-sacrifice, selfishness and selflessness, bondage to the pleasure and pain principle, fear, undue desire. The ego thereby is subdued, the wrong conception of duality is transcended and man's Karma born out of ignorance is employed as the means to destroy its own source, resulting in the actual reformation of individuals at large.

The descent of the divine in Baba's human form was to create condition for mankind to ascend to His divine essence and everything that happens is but the expression of the divine will. Hence the decent of the divine energy and the ascent of the human aspiration are mutually complementary.

This is the divine law which inspires to revolutionise one's thought and life, to be in communication with the universal Self for which the only panacea is "SEEK KNOCK AND ASK". So it is only persistent perseverance with determination and conviction, to strive and strive that shall actually help to leave the mundane earth for reaching the celestial stars. Actually where there is discrimination, dispassion is bound to follow. That is the law of spirit.