Shirdi Sai Baba Stories,Leelas and Teachings.: Inner Voyage to Explore Sai-Master and the Disciple-Part2.

Dear all,

Happy Baba's day .Today I am uploading part 2 of 12th chapter from the book "Inner Voyage To Explore Sai ".Please read the first part of this chapter given below.Devotees are requested to follow the link given at the end of this post if they miss on any part/chapter of the book .Jai Sai Ram.

Chapter XII
Master and Disciple -Part 2.

DIFFICULT TASK:

Disciple: Oh, Master! Though you have given me a detailed description of the evils to be avoided, you have set me a great and difficult task. Desire is deep rooted in my nature; passion binds me fast to earthly things. Desire, passion, ego are my very self. How can I renounce the sweet things of life? How can I renounce family, wife and riches? All men pray for the eternal preservation of the sweet pleasures of wife, family and money. How can I do away with all these?

Master: You have vowed to follow me. Is that not so? Then, listen with love, faith and humility. It is not necessary that you should leave off everything.

Disciple: Yes, My Lord, I will do so.

Master: See, how many suffer. Do you think they are always in pleasure? Pleasure follows pain and pain follows pleasure. Pain is more in this world than pleasure. Men suffer because they long to preserve the lower self. They labor for its eternal possession and preservation. There is only unrest. Behold Me! In Me, alone there is peace. Weary and pain-stricken is the world because people do not follow My precepts and practice them. They know Me not. No weariness, pain or sorrow can touch Me or can come to My abode. My abode is the purified heart, My upright mind is the temple and blameless life is My holy habitation.

Disciple: I take refuge in You, Your temple, in Your abode of holy habitation.

Master: the purified heart is not obtained by desire; the upright mind is not affected by passion and in the sinless life there is no thought of self. Search your heart; abandon all such desires, passion and egotistical tendencies, and abandon all habits that lead you to a wretched life.

Disciple: Oh, Master! Please teach me how to control and purify the mind which is restless.

Master: It is absolutely necessary that all attempts must be made first to purify the mind.I have already told you about the habits and thoughts that defile the mind. Mind alone is the cause of bondage or imprisonment of the soul. We are bound by the attachment of the mind to the world, by devotion of the mind to God we become free. Do your duties faithfully, no matter how lowly your condition in life is. Surrender the fruits of your actions to God. Seek the society of the holy and do service to them. Above all, acquire an eager thirst for righteousness, truth and freedom. Practice moderation in your appetites. Do injury to no creature. Swerve not from truth. Covet not the wealth of another. Accept only enough for your daily needs. Practice self control and self denial so that you may lead a pure and contented life. Above all else, be clean and pure in soul, mind and body. Study the scriptures with diligence. As the mind is allowed to cling to the world and objects of the world, attachment grows and there comes delusion. Cultivate noble virtues and perform noble deeds.

The mind creates an illusion by thinking the lower self to be the real self, by attachment to the family, by egoistic activities, by intoxication of possession, by the thought it is mind, by avarice of wealth, by enjoyment of the pleasures of sex and wealth which are only agreeable at the beginning. The lower self must be completely eliminated before the real Self can be found out. There should be no thoughts which originate from objects of the senses to disturb the mind. You should discriminate and shun thoughts which attach you to worldly objects. You should realize that gunas born out of prakriti are acting and that you are merely a witness and do your duties and obligations without any attachment to the results and expectations of reward. Work must be turned into worship. Offer worship to God regularly with a one-pointed mind. Chant His glorious names. Sing His praises and dwell more and more in he thought of Him. Learn to see God in all things. Revere the great sages and your guru.

Disciple: I have heard You. I shall follow Your advice with full faith, not clinging to worldly objects.

ON THE THRESHHOLD

Master: I am glad that you are entering the threshold of righteousness. Practice and I am with you to guide you and prevent you from stumbling.

After sometime, the disciple again makes an appeal to the Guru for fresh instructions as he is stumbling.

Disciple: Oh, Master! I meditated but I am still in sorrow. I am weary. Please do not desert me. I am overwhelmed by desire and passion. I am confused and the way is still dark. Comfort me with the balm of your instructions.

Master: You are still full of sorrow, why? Please look at Me. I have no sorrow. It is the shadow cast by your selfish cravings that results in desires and passion. There is no darkness in Truth and Love, no weeping, weariness and lamentation. It is serene and sorrow-less. My light is shining on your path, but you see only illusions. Do not swerve from the path you have chosen. Let it take time. This mighty conquest of the Self is difficult. If you loot at Me, surrender to Me, follow Me faithfully, you can overcome these difficulties (Extracts from “The Apostle of Love” authored by Rangaswami Parthasarathy)

POWER OF PRAYER

Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji, in His Spiritual Recipes, focusing on the power of prayer, has written as follows:

1. Prayer is an aspect that offers all activities an obligation for offering to the Lord.

2. Prayer as a confession leads to the reformation of the Self. Prayer is a mighty spiritual force.

3. Prayer is an offering of Self and all its activities to the Supreme.

4. Prayer opens the gate to the Hall of Wisdom.

5. Prayer has got great psychological, moral and spiritual value.

6. Prayer reforms the individual to get the clear perception of God.

7. Prayer bestows wisdom upon those who pray to the Lord. Prayer frees one
from the fear of death.

8. Prayer to God drives away the evil propensities of the person who prays with all sincerity from his heart. Prayer produces tranquility of mind.

9. Prayer cleanses the heart and illuminates it thereby to attain the vision of God.

10. Prayer leads to inner peace, introspection and spiritual exaltation with the strength of virtues to live in harmony. Prayer can work miracles. If prayer becomes a habit with you, you will feel as if you cannot live with out it. The one who lives without prayer lives in vain. Pray not for selfish ends. Pray for divine light, purity and spiritual guidance. Pray constantly. You will attain eternal Bliss.

11. Flattery is like a counterfeit coin to which vanity and pride give currency.

12. Worry and fear are the most expensive guests to be entertained.

13. Enmity comes not to an end by enmity, only by non-enmity, it comes to an end.

14. Better to be blind than to see ill or evil.

15. Avoid that which you blame in others.

16. Remember your faults and don’t be too hard on others.

17. An evil minded man is quick to see his neighbor’s faults though small as a mustard seed, but when he turns his eyes towards his own, though large as a Bilva fruit, he decries it not.

18. Many find fault without an end, yet do nothing at all to mend.

19. Improve rather by other men’s errors than find fault with them.

20. First think of yourself and then find fault with others.

21. Sacrifice and service purify one’s heart. Angry words pollute the tongue.Greed infatuates one’s egoism. Remember lustful looks blind one’s vision.

22. Faith is wick. Teachings are the oil, vessel is your mind into which the oil is to be poured. Intellect shines through and through by the grace of Guru.He is the Light that shines in you.

23. One should cultivate peace in the garden of his heart by removing the weeds of lust, anger, greed, selfishness, jealousy and hatred. Then, only he can contribute peace to the world.

24. Concentration is the master key to open the gates of self-realisation. Fix your mind on Guru-God. Be calm and patient in all your actions. Give your mind and heart completely to it.

25. If one wants peace, he must reduce his wants and desires; he must remove selfishness, pride and greed. He must learn to love others and sacrifice for them.

26. Pure love is eternal and imperishable. It is ever forgiving. It is the path to eternal happiness. Love shines eternally when egoistic selfishness vanishes.

27. Be poised. In everything that you do, ‘Be poised’. Your actions, your movements, your mode of walking, your talks, everything should bear the charm of grace. If you are in the habit of walking or talking, check yourself. Never feel excited, agitated or angry. Don’t make a dash or jerky movement. You are, thereby, wasting your forces and wasting the good effect of concentration.

28. Some people misunderstand concentration as stopping the activity of the body and stimulating that of the brain. This is wrong. You have to restrain the activities of the brain too. No thinking at all.

29. Always keep yourself calm, composed, confident and keep an expectant frame of mind during concentration. While you concentrate, you shut up your ‘little Self’ and put your physical senses in temporary obeyance. It is then that the Infinite intelligence has scope to play through you and in you. The deeper you live in, this frame of mind, the wiser, and happier and better you shall grow.

30. Happiness is not a standardized product. It is not the same thing to every man. True happiness consists in obtaining what you really desire.

31. Once you have stilled the senses and removed the tension of the nerves, a peaceful state of mind is not difficult to achieve. Sometimes, it follows immediately and automatically. You need not make any frantic efforts to bring about a ‘peaceful state of mind’. It will come of its own accord. All you have to do is to fix your attention between the two eyebrows and dismiss all wandering thoughts from your mind. No thinking at all under any circumstances. That is the Motto.

Be still, stillness is absolutely necessary throughout the concentration practice.

Coming up in Next post :

Swami ji's Grace -Baba's Kindness.

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