Conversations with Sai .. (Part G)

H : Of the many 'roads' to self-realization, what is the short cut?

SAI: The short cut is this way: the Name of God is the seed; love is the water by which the crop grows; discipline is the fence which protects the growing crop; the field in which the crop is grown is the spiritual heart; the crop when it comes to harvest, is Bliss.

H : Why should one attempt to gain Self-realization when one is always Self-realized?

SAI: As of now, there is a mixture in the mind of sensory identification. The mind is not fully one-pointed.

H : Swami, time is needed for the plane to arrive in India, but why is time needed for Self-realization? Is not an immediate awakening possible, entirely apart from time?

SAI: Immediate awakening apart from time? Yes, it is possible. If faith is full and perfect, then Grace comes fully at that very moment, just as the sound and the bullet occur at the same moment.

H : But, Swami, one believes that he does have full faith. Therefore, there must be self-deception?

SAI: As long as one thinks he has faith, he does not. Just as when one knows that he is meditating, he is not meditating. Only when meditation is automatic, all day long, there is meditation. Full faith is reached by Sadhana, just as Bombay is reached by approaching it.

H : Sadhana, as it is described, seems wrong, because it is a conscious effort aimed at getting a reward. It seems to me that Sadhana is real only when it is spontaneous. That is, when one naturally loves God, then he cannot help but love God, and he cannot help but make inquiry.

SAI: It is as you say, but you have not experienced that spontaneous love of God. It is still just an idea. You have a conviction that love of God exists naturally in you. That conviction is the result of many lives of spiritual practice.

A Visitor: What is the correct Sadhana for retired people?

SAI: Meditation morning and evening. Spend days in good work.

A Visitor: What is the Sadhana appropriate to ladies?

SAI: Ladies have the duty of house, children and husband. They are very busy. Meditation morning and evening can be done. During the day, all work that previously was done for others should now be done as worship of God. That is the best Sadhana for ladies.

Hislop : : This morning in the taxi from the airport, even the driver had marvellous experiences of Swami's Leelas. And the Bombay airport officers told other miraculous stories about happenings in their homes.

SAI: Leelas are occurring throughout India in tens of millions of homes. Swami keeps His hand down so that publicity about the Leelas will not spread. The rulers of the country know, but they keep it quiet. If the facts were to have publicity, millions would converge on Swami.

H : In the future, when millions of people crowd around Swami, our present chance of being close-by will then be gone?

SAI: Not at all. If Baba is pleased with a person he may still be close. That is Baba's will.

H : Only a relatively few are fortunate enough to see Swami and appreciate that it is God come within vision.

SAI: One sees a plane in the sky. He cannot see the pilot, but he knows there is a pilot. To see the pilot, he must buy a ticket. The Universe also has a Pilot. He is God. To see Him, the ticket is His Grace. This can be won by Sadhana of the various types. Underlying all Sadhana is love. The reality of all Sadhana is love. Without love, no Sadhana has any value. To win God's Grace, faith is necessary. Without love, there cannot be faith. That love is in the heart and arises spontaneously therefrom. Love is God. That love which fills the heart is Swami, Who is the resident of the heart.

H : What is one hundred per cent faith in God?

SAI: One hundred per cent faith arises from the Atma. Full faith is even. Through pain and sorrow, faith in God remains full. Milk may be compared to life. In the whey there is no oil. Butter has some remains of water - this is the good and the bad - the butter the good tendencies, the water the bad. When the butter is boiled, at a certain stage there is a bad smell. This smell is the remaining impurities being boiled away. But have faith and keep on during that period. Then the pure ghee is left. That pure ghee is wisdom. The end of wisdom is freedom.

H : Swami, something has happened here, water is around this box. These saris will get wet.
(Swami removed the cover of the box and those of us who were standing there could see that the edges of the saris were wet. The cardboard box with four saris in it was lying on a table at Dharmakshetra in Bombay . Swami had selected 96 saris for distribution to some lady volunteers, and of the 100 brought for His inspection, four were replaced in the box to be returned later to the merchant. The table was not close to any source of water, and Hislop, several other men, and Swami had been standing there from the time the saris were examined one by one, by Swami.)

SAI: The saris are weeping because Swami has rejected them. Now, I will take them.

H : Swami! How could that be? Does Swami say that inanimate objects have injured feelings and can weep?

SAI: Inanimate objects are also capable of feeling joy and grief. When the bridge towards Lanka was built by the monkeys so that Rama could march to Ravana's kingdom where Sita was held captive, one last mountain peak was carried to the bridge site. But it was too late. There was no need for it. At this circumstance the mountain shed tears of anguish, and news of this was quickly taken to Rama. His compassion was great, and He sent word that the mountain should no longer sorrow, and that He would surely use it on a future occasion. In the Avatara of Krishna, it was this very mountain peak, the Govardhana Peak , which the youth Krishna , lifted on His finger to shelter the cowherds of Gokul from Indra's deluge of rain.

H : Swami! This great drama of Rama and Krishna and the mountain peak has been recapitulated here in Bombay on this day before our very eyes. The saris came and could not be used. They wept tears of anguish; and in His compassion Swami relented, and the rejected saris will be used, although not for the original purpose of making gifts to the volunteers. (Mrs. Hislop and three other ladies were given the rejected saris) . It is the self-same drama of ancient days played again on this day.

SAI: Yes. And it is also the self-same Rama and the self-same Krishna who is here this day.

A Visitor: One sees oneself in a mirror. As one moves away from the mirror, the image becomes smaller and smaller. I sit here and look at Hislop. The further away I move, the smaller Hislop becomes. But Hislop is not smaller; he has not changed. Therefore, I cannot be looking at Hislop. But Hislop is certainly there. So what did I see when I thought I was seeing Hislop? And if Hislop is not that which I see, then what is Hislop? Do I, in some way or other, see a reflection of Hislop?

SAI: It is indeed true that you do not see Hislop. You see a reflection of Hislop, the reflection exhibits that particular form and characteristics. Then what is Hislop? Hislop is God. The image, the form is not God, but all forms together, the totality of all forms, can be taken as God. God is the reality behind the form. The world is there, but its reality is not seen. The reality is God. One may see the reality, that the truth behind every form is God. Once this perception arises, it is never lost. Although one sees the forms, he is always aware of the truth, the reality.