Today’s Thought For The Day is dedicated to my Sai Sister Nelline Naidoo who is currently in the throes of illness. May Swami’s love forever touch your heart sweet soul.
See with the eyes of love
Hear with the ears of love,
Work with the hands of love,
Thinks thoughts of love,
Feel love in every nerve.
~ Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Love is a bridge over the sea of change. Do not build a house on it – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Love exists for love’s sake and nothing else. It is spontaneous and spreads delight Everything is permeated by love. Love can conquer anything. Selfless, pure, unalloyed love leads man to God. Selfish and constricted love binds man to the world. Unable to comprehend the pure and sacred nature of love, man today is a prey to endless worries because of his attachment to world objects. Man’s primary duty is to understand the truth about the Love principle. Once he understands the nature of love he will not go astray.
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
I am proud to welcome my latest guest, Author and Sai Baba devotee Anita Bacha to my blog. Anita has a truly wonderous story to share with us….. over to you Anita.
Anita Bacha was born in 1948 in Mauritius. She studied law in London and trained as a Barrister. She is a also a former Public Prosecutor and Senior Magistrate. From 1988 until 2004 she joined the Executive as the President of the National Adoption Council, set up by the Government of the Day to put a stop to the sale and traffic of children in Intercountry Adoption. Henceforth she worked as Legal Secretary in the family firm ‘Bacha and Bacha Chartered Accountants and Auditors’ in Bond Street, London. In 2005, she was called upon by the newly elected Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr.Navin Chandra Ramgoolam to chair the Central Authority for Intercountry Adoption. She came back to Mauritius to assume her new responsibilities. She is, at this day, still holding office. In March 2008, she was elevated to the rank of Commander of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (CSK) on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the National Day Celebrations by Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, the President of the Republic of Mauritius and in recognition of her valuable contribution in the field of child protection and in community work. She is married, the mother of four grown up kids and the grand- mother of five. In 1978, she unexpectedly discovered the Spiritual Master ‘Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’ and that encounter marked the true start of her spiritual life. She was inspired by Sri Sai Baba to write two books- THE MAKER OF MIRACLES (2006) and MY JOURNEY WITH GOD (2008) where she gives detailed accounts of her experiences of spiritual life as a follower of Baba. She joined the Sai Fold in 1978 as an active member of the Sri Sathya Sai Centre of Curepipe in Mauritius, a voluntary association based on the spiritual teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In 2007, she was selected as Ladies Convener and Executive Member of the Centre. She is nowadays actively engaged in spiritual, social and community work.
“MIRACLES ARE MY VISITING CARDS” Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba.
We often hear stories about the miraculous healings and cures of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Most of them sound absolutely out of this world. In her book ‘The Divine Leelas of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’, Srimati Purnaiya, a long-time devotee of Baba, wrote ‘to save the life of a man, Baba operated on him with His bare hands and without anesthesia’. This sounds most incredible and utterly impossible to those who have never personally experienced such a miracle. I was one of them until approximately six years ago when my life was saved by the divine intervention of Baba.
In June 2004, I was living in Mauritius. As far as my memory goes, it was icy cold that winter. I woke up at four in the morning for prayers and meditation. After the recital in my prayer room, I returned to my bedroom for meditation as it was far too cold for me to meditate in there. In my bed, I lay down in “dead man” posture for meditation. I had read in one of the books of Charles Penn, an American devotee that Baba had advised him to do so after he had complained about waking up in the early hours of the day and not being to fall asleep again.
So there I was in my bed and in meditative pose when I felt a long finger poking deep into my left breast. At the same time, I heard a voice calling to wake me up- Heeeeeeeeh! I opened my eyes and lo! Baba was standing by my bedside and smiling at me! Next moment, he was gone…disappeared into thin air.
I forgot all about the incident in the coming days but my heart kept telling me to go to London. I am British and my son Yogen lived and worked in London.
Finally, in January 2005, I arrived in London. I immediately started to attend to my personal matters which included my mail. I found a letter from NHS inviting me for a routine mammogram which is addressed to all women over 35. The appointment date had expired, having been fixed to a date in June 2004. Nonetheless and by the Grace of God, when I phoned the X-ray department, they agreed to give me a new appointment for the following week. I went for it.
One week after the mammogram, a letter arrived from NHS inviting me for a second one. Puzzled but fearing the worst, I decided to have a second X-ray. This was followed by an appointment for a medical review at hospital. There I was examined by two lady doctors. They inquired about my general health and then asked whether I had a lump in my breast. Which breast, I asked. I was feeling on top of the world and had no problem with my breasts at all. I was told that the X-ray had showed a small lump in my left breast. Hand examination was followed by a scan and finally I was asked to lie on a couch, half naked for a needle test of my left breast. As the needle pierced my skin and flesh, I realized that Baba had poked my left breast with his finger at that very spot.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery a few weeks after. The cancer was found to be very small in size and had not spread to other parts of my body. Matter of fact, only a ‘lumpectomy’ was done to remove the tumor; my breasts were saved.
I recovered very quickly from the trauma and went back to work.
I am ever so thankful to Baba for saving my life! I would have hated to die of cancer knowing the irreversible damage which the disease does to women. The All- Compassionate and Merciful Lord had stopped the growth of the tumor and guided my steps to London, opening one door after another until my final recovery.
– Anita Bacha –
Anita’s pages on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002F390Q0
The five elements each have a characteristic that affects and attracts one of the five senses. The ether as sound fascinates the mind through the ear; air as touch draws the mind to itself through the skin; fire as form manipulates the mind in its favour through the eye; water as taste enslaves the mind through the tongue; and earth as smell intoxicates the mind through the nose. The senses interact with the external world and produce experiences which yield joy or grief. Falsely identifying himself with the senses, man suffers in the coils of attachment. He does not realize that he is neither the body nor the senses, that he is Brahman (Godhead) himself.
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Dear Friends
It gives me great pleasure to be able to share with you the write-up of the interfaith prayer meeting held in Bath on 5 February 2012.
REGION 7: Mayor of Bath’s Annual Call To Prayer to all Faith groups
For the last ten years the Sai Baba organization, along with representatives from seven major faiths, have been asked to make a short presentation at this annual event in the splendid Guildhall. This year the theme was ‘Bath’s Industrial Heritage’ which was challenging to say the least!
The Mayor opened the event and called upon the Mayor’s Chaplain to MC the proceedings. The Reverend welcomed the audience drawn from Bath and the surrounding region and expressed happy surprise that extra chairs had to be brought in, despite the snow, to seat the large number assembled.
The Christian Youth representatives from St Saviour’s led the way by summarizing their activities and core values. They welcomed all to visit their church and enjoy their most valued sense of community and love of Christ Jesus.
The Jewish tradition followed with a vibrantly sung prayer drawn from the Torah with a brief explanation.
This was followed by Ruhi, a 4th generation Bah’ai who gave a brief history of her faith and heartfelt reading and song.
Then came the Islamic faith group who led a question and answer dialogue, mentioning that there are between 1200-1500 Muslims in Bath and informing us of the local Islamic tradition of the city.
They were followed by Arun Bedi from Swindon who led the Sikh tradition’s contribution. He explained the potency of the 2 primary symbols of Sikhism and the power of Aum. He finished by chanting and translating a prayer.
Buddhism followed with another question and answer dialogue led by a monk from the Bristol Buddhist Centre, and then we enjoyed a beautifully sung Liberating prayer blessing in English.
We were then treated to a sweet rendition of the Gayatri mantra and a bhajan led by Satyen Gadher and his group of young Hindu children who, in their beautiful colourful dress, lit up the proceedings with deep heart and respect.
To close the proceedings and before we broke for tea and mingling came the Sai Baba group with our Sarvadharma. Knowing the Mayor’s love of song, we wanted to get everyone singing and so kept our presentation to a minimum, focussing on the Universality of Swami’s message and the commonality of His teachings with those of other traditions. Without God, without Love and without Service there would be no Industrial Heritage in Bath, regardless of the faith and beliefs of those who created this magnificent city.
It was heartwarming to see many in the audience joining in with a couple of devotional songs with which we concluded the proceedings, accompanied by Kathryn Crosweller on the guitar :
Happy are they who in friendship willingly work together …who in peace united willingly work together.
And to finish, the rousing song Let the Love we’re sharing spread its wings, fly across the earth and bring new joy to every soul who is alive…Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu….
Afterwards, the Lib Dem MP of Bath, the Honourable Don Foster, who had been singing at the top of his voice, told Clare that he thought everyone in the UK should be encouraged to sing this song regularly…!
The event aims to bring together all the various faiths so that the promotion of common values and purpose can be shared and felt. To this end much was achieved this year. There was a definite feeling of tolerance, understanding, mutual co-operation and appreciation of each other’s spiritual paths.
It’s also a wonderful networking opportunity and most of us enjoyed interesting conversations with those from other faiths. A representative from the Islamic, Buddhist and Ba’hai groups have each accepted an invitation to come to our Sunday Study Circle to speak on a chosen theme of their particular tradition. This outstretched hand of welcome and friendship is as our Sai would hope and expect of us and we look forward to further extending this sense of sharing and openness to other groups.
Roland Pargeter, Bath Sai Group.
No matter where you go always do your duty as you see it, and know that I will be there inside you guiding you every step of the way.
In the years to come you will experience me in many different manifestations of my own. You are my very own, dearer than dear to me. I will protect you like the eyelids protect the eyes. You already have me and I have you. I will never leave you and you can never leave me. From this point on do not hanker after anything. Do your duty with unwavering love, seeing all as God. Be patient. In time evrything will be given unto you.
Be happy. There is no need to worry about anything. Whatever is experienced, whatever happens, know that this Avatar willed it so.
There is no force on Earth which can delay for an instant the mission for which this Avatar has come. You are all sacred souls and you will have your parts to play in the unfolding drama of the new Golden Age, which is coming.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Bear all and do nothing
Hear all and say nothing
Give all and take nothing
Serve all and be nothing.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
The above quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba is highly symbolic and goes way beyond the surface. In this article I would like to humbly offer my own translation of Swami’s wonderful words.
“Bear all and do nothing” simply means to accept everything as it is, in the knowledge that all is in Divine and perfect order at any given time; “all” being God’s will. When we detach from the ego we are able to do this, embracing both pleasure and pain with equal equanimity.
“Hear all and say nothing” All is God and God is All. Therefore maintain silence and hear the voice of God, the inner voice of Love; for silence is the language of the spiritual seeker, and it is only in the silence that we can hear the voice of God.
“Give all and take nothing” Give of yourself to others wanting nothing in return. There is nothing we can take anyway, because there is nothing in this earthly life that we can own, except our love which was given to us by God before time began.
“Serve all and be nothing” This is very, very powerful indeed. Following on from the last statement, the easiest way to serve God is to serve our fellow humans, because God dwells within the hearts of all. Baba tells us that the easiest and most effective way to enlightenment is Karma Yoga, which quite simply means to serve others, completely without thoughts of self, wanting nothing in return. When we give our love selflessly we are taking a step closer to God, and when we do that, God takes manifold steps towards us, filling us with Divine love in the process. This ultimately will lead to Self-realization.
The symbolism doesn’t quite end there. The word “nothing” itself has an extremely deeper meaning here than would appear on the surface. We were all once “nothing” until we became ideas within the super-conscious mind of God. We then became particles of “nothing” until God willed us into form. So life is a journey from the formless, into form and then back to the formless; or “nothing”.
We can conclude by saying that this seemingly simple quote from our beloved Sai is actually a mini-instruction manual on how to achieve Self-realization and Oneness with the Divine. If we bear all, hear all, give all and serve all, we will achieve “nothing”. Nothing being the uncreated state of pure bliss. Sai Ram.
It seems like a while since I’ve written an article on Sai humour, so here I am with part seven of this most intriguing of subjects. On this occasion I’m going to share two gems concerning the American devotee, Dr John Hislop and a personal experience that happened no more than a few hours before writing this post. Dr John Hislop was one of Swami’s closest devotees for many years until he departed this Earth in August 1995.
In 1973 Hislop accompanied Baba and some students on a trip to Bandipur forest where they spent Shivarathri. It was during this trip Baba performed one of his most famous miracles ever, materializing a crucifix for Hislop. When Baba performed this miracle the crucifix took a second or two to materialize instead of the usual nano second. This prompted Swami to issue a tongue-in-cheek apology for it taking so long, adding that the reason for the delay was because the crucifix was made from some of the actual wood from the cross on which Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago. The scientist in Hislop prompted him to get it checked out on returning to the US. He gave it to a friend who was an expert in this particular field, and he confirmed that the wood was indeed around 2000 years old. Six months later Hislop returned to India and he could not hide his embarrassment when Baba, with a cheeky grin on his face, said to him “so, you didn’t believe the wood was 2000 years old until you got it tested”.
On another occasion Baba materialized a ring for Hislop with an enamel picture of himself on it. After some time the enamel developed some cracks, and not wanting to wear a broken image of Swami on his finger, he tied a piece of string through the ring and wore it around his neck. When Baba asked him why he was wearing the ring around his neck Hislop replied “it’s my talisman Swami, as long as it’s on my body it reminds me to think of you whenever I’m in need of your care and protection”. Some time passed and Hislop had a miraculous escape from death. He was travelling in a taxi from Whitefield to Bangalore when a car was approaching at speed in the opposite direction. The road was not wide enough for manouvering and Hislop, in terror, closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable impact. After a few seconds he opened them again and was shocked to find that he was still travelling in the taxi with a clear road ahead. He could not figure out how the driver had managed to avoid a collision, and he was still in a state of shock when he arrived at his hotel. When Baba saw him the next morning, with a hint of sarcasm and a twinkle in his eye, he said “when you were in such a grave situation yesterday you didn’t think of me did you”. But Baba’s love is boundless and he gave Hislop another ring.
This next example is so funny to me, because Baba used his humour to convey a message to me via someone else’s dream. I find it so funny because it is very personal and very, very apt. Somone who is very dear to me told me this morning that Baba had come to her in a dream and that she had been face to face with him. Now Swami always said that when we dream of him it is not a dream but a visitation. I explained this to my dear friend who has only come to know of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the last few months. She said that in the dream Baba asked her “do you know me?”. She replied, “Yes, I know you through Richard Holmes”, to which Baba replied, “ahhh the foreigner”.
At first I just thought to myself that it was typical Baba and that it was one of his amusing quips. But, I should have known better. Swami never does or says anything just for the sake of it, and nothing that he ever does can be described as “typical”. A couple of hours later the penny dropped, the light bulb in my head came on and I knew exactly what he meant when he referred to me as “the foreigner”. It was extremely appropriate to my circumstances and his way of letting me know that he was aware of everything. To me it was just wonderful to know that he blessed a very dear soul with his presence and at the same time delivered a personal message to me. Oooooh that’s why I love him so!
It is probably the greatest love story in the history of the planet; The Avatar, Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Sai Gheeta the elephant. Years ago a tiny elephant was crying out in the bush, all alone and afraid. Some miles away in the village of Puttaparthi a “young” Avatar in the shape of Baba heard the infant’s cry and went to its rescue. The elephant was so small that Baba was able to pick it up and put it in the back of a Land Rover; and so was born, the greatest love story ever. Swami called the elephant “Sai Gheeta” and the two were together until May 2007 when Sai Gheeta departed this earth. The elephant absolutely loved Baba beyond words and would get very agitated if ever he had to go away. On one occasion Sai Gheeta kicked up such a fuss when he sensed Baba was leaving the ashram that Baba actually abandoned his engagement.
I remember watching a video that aptly demonstrated the pure and unconditional love that existed between Avatar and elephant. Baba, in pristine orange robe, was petting Sai Gheeta who had a lot of saliva coming from his mouth. Swami’s upper robe became drenched with elephant saliva but he simply carried on petting his loving devotee and didn’t even bat an eyelid.
After Sai Gheeta left his body Swami acquired another elephant, a female this time, who we were told was called “San Gheeta”. During my first visit to Puttaparthi it did not even occur to me to find out where the elephant was kept and go and pay my respects; in fact, during my first visit in October 2009 I did not even realise that Sai Gheeta was no longer in his body. However, during my second visit in February 2010 my then girlfriend, Ciara, mentioned Baba’s elephant and said we should find out where it’s kept and go and have a look. We established that the elephant compound was up the road from the ashram, past The Hill View Stadium and on the other side of the road; approximately three-quarters of a mile away. So, towards the end of our stay we decided to pay the elephant a visit. We did a recce and found the compound and also found out the time when San Gheeta would be let out for her daily exercise.
The time came to go and visit the elephant compound, but as we set out we had no idea that Baba was to shower us in his blessings and grace beyond our wildest dreams. The designated time for San Gheeta to appear was 4.00 p.m., but, as anyone who has visited India will be able to tell you, this is 4.00 p.m. Indian time. What this means basically is that it could be anytime. But we arrived outside the compound gate and waited patiently. A seva dal arrived soon after and he confirmed that 4.00 p.m. was indeed the time for San Gheeta’s exercise. As you can imagine 4.00 p.m. came and went and there was no sign of San Gheeta. We looked through the wrought iron gate for any sign of activity, but there did not seem to be anything going on. I should also point out that you are not normally allowed inside the compound.
All of a sudden, out of the blue, a seva dal came and unlocked the gate and ushered us inside (along with another man with a small child). We couldn’t believe our luck! As we entered the compound the Samadhi (tomb or resting place) of Sai Gheeta was on the right. We were ushered a bit further on and then around to the left was San Gheeta with her mahout (keeper). At first we did not like what we saw. The elephant had chains around her feet and appeared to be in distress. But we came to the conclusion that she was quite boisterous and would need to be restrained at times; she would also have been excited knowing that it was time for her exercise. She was obviously very young, but absolutely huge. The mahout unfastened the chains and guided her out of her little compound within the compound.
Ciara had a camera with her and the seva dals said we could take as many photos as we liked, and we took full advantage of this (see pic below). She was absolutely beautiful. Her eyes were just like human eyes, only much bigger, and she was gurgling just like a baby. But what was really amazing was that she was SMILING. Yes, San Gheeta was smiling; and her smile looked so human. She just stood there while we petted her; it was such a fantastic experience and we knew that it had been engineered by Swami. It was soon time to take the elephant out for her exercise and we followed as the mahout guided her to the compound gate. Once outside she was guided right, down along the main road through Puttaparthi. It was quite amusing really because she was just plodding along, looking so happy with this grin on her beautiful face, but because she was so huge we had to almost jog to keep up. There was a video facility on Ciara’s camera that allowed five minutes recording time, so I recorded a five-minute video of proceedings. Outside the compound we were joined by a Russian lady with her child who tried to feed San Gheeta bananas as she thundered along the road. We then turned left into The Hill View Stadium, which sadly, meant that our amazing experience with the most beautiful of creatures was over; it all seemed to happen so quickly. In the photo below, San Gheeta can be seen exiting the Samadhi of Sai Gheeta. We were told that she likes to go into the samadhi as if she is making a spiritual connection with her departed “brother”, and this is exactly what she did on her way out of the compound.
Ciara and I split up soon after returning to England so I no longer have access to that video. But I often think about the time we spent in the company of San Gheeta, all because of the loving grace of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I will never forget her eyes, her gurgling sounds and her wonderful smile. Who says elephants aren’t human!
Author - Richard F Holmes 