Thought For The Day #115

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True education is that which develops in you, love for your fellow-beings and motivates you to serve God in everyone – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

When The Avatar Comes Calling


I had an amazing experience this morning that ended at approximately 06.40.  It was so amazing, in fact, that as I sit here typing a little over four hours later, I am still trying to get my head around the whole business.  I have had Sai dreams before, but I can honestly say that this experience was on a par with the time Sri Sathya Sai Baba plucked me from my physical body and carried me away on an astral journey back in December 2006.

Strangely enough some details of the dream are very vague, especially the early stages.  But the main content remains very vivid in my mind.  Because of the vagaries of the early part of the dream I will start this account by relating what my heart is telling me occurred.  I was in a room that seemed quite small and I cannot remember the decor, but I must have been craving for Swami’s presence.  I vaguely remember calling out for him and then being raised up fairly high off the floor and finding myself facing a picture of him that was on one of the walls.  I became very excited about seeing Baba and even though the picture looked a bit un-Baba-like it was most definitely the God-man; with his orange robe and shock of black fuzzy hair.  His face was kind of different but his eyes were so real.  I do remember talking to him in a very enthusiastic way, when I look back now it was as though somewhere within me, at a very deep level, I knew he was coming.  but within seconds my experience was over.

Now this is the bit that I remember very clearly.  I was not happy with my experience being so short, but not in a negative way, and I started calling once again for Baba.  I must have been calling with such enthusiasm because all of a sudden Swami was there.  He was laying on a bed asleep and I appeared to be looking down at him.  I enthused “wake up Swami, wake up!”  He opened his eyes and within a split second we were standing face to face.  We were so close you could have barely got a cigarette paper in between us.  I did something next that under normal circumstances you would never do to an Avatar; I grabbed his right arm with my left hand as we faced each other.  It was done in a nice way of course; I was so full of excitement.  I said “I’ve been missing you” and “speak to me Swami, speak to me”, but Baba just looked at me deadpan.  There was a great feeling of friendship between us that I could feel inside me, and I said to him “what’s up, cat got your tongue?”  I seem to remember saying “cat got your tongue” to him again and this time he gave that little Swami half-smile; like a cross between a smirk and an impish grin.

Then he started speaking to me but I could only hear jumbled sounds coming out of his mouth that seemed distant and I was straining to try to understand him.  It was almost like a jumbled radio broadcast, but right in the middle of the “noise” I made out the words “try not to worry so much”.  The look on his face was the look of a loving father, mother, sister, brother and friend all rolled into one.  He was as solid as solid can be and his form reminded me of how he looked back in the 1990’s.  There was signs that he was beginning to age but he had this fantastic youthfulness about him.  What was really apparent was that the whole experience was just so natural; a bit like making a cup of tea, it was almost as though it was expected that two friends would meet up and share a few moments of pure undiluted love.  He was so non-judgemental; accepting me exactly as I am in spite of all my little faults; and the love between us was beyond mere words.  Then it was all over…..

I suppose I should now say “and then I woke up”, but it wasn’t quite like that. It’s true to say that when the whole experience began it was most definitely a dream and I was certainly asleep.  But as Swami was interacting with me I was wide awake, I simply had my eyes closed; so the whole episode was played out on the inner plane.  When Baba had gone I just lay there in bed with my eyes closed; only opening them to look at the clock.  When I did look at the clock it said 06.45, so I am guessing that I was laying there for at least five minutes before looking.  What I found unusual was that I said to Swami “I have been missing you”.  That is not an expression I would normally use; I would normally say something like “I miss you”, I missed you” or “you have been missed”.  I believe there are a number of deeper, hidden messages in here for me to unravel, and I may share them in a future post if it seems appropriate.

Finally, there was one particular detail about Baba’s physical form that I will not share because I believe it to be very personal between Swami and I.  But the reason for mentioning it is that Swami always works in ways that are very precise and literally everything with him has a meaning of sorts.  I believe he gave that tiny bit of detail as a gentle reminder to me not to get attached to the form.  I believe he came to me in that way because that is how I relate to him.  But at the same time he did not want to divert my attention too far away from the “formless”, so he gave me a little reminder that the physical body will deteriorate over time.

Oh what an experience!  How truly blessed I am!  Thank you so much Baba!

Jai Sai Ram.

Thought For The Day #111

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Man falsely imagines “I am doing this”, “I am planning this”. It is the supreme, all pervasive consciousness that motivates, unfolds the skills and operates the intellect – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought For The Day #105

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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

Thought For The Day #93

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Love alone can win it, Love that needs no requital, Love that knows no bargaining, Love that is paid gladly as tribute to all living, Love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome obstacles, however many and mighty – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought For The Day #90

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Love is a bridge over the sea of change. Do not build a house on it – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

A Bit Of Inspiration Never Did Anyone Any Harm Part Two

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For the launch of my latest book, Fragments Of Divinity, on June 12, I appeared as a guest on the blog of my friend and psychic novelist, Linn B Halton.  Below is a copy of the article.

It’s amazing how meeting someone can radically change your life, the way you look at things and the way you look at your future. Today I’m introducing one such person who has indeed had a radical impact upon my life. When I first met Richard Holmes I had been looking for him for a while … yes I know that sounds strange, but I had seen him at an evening of Clairvoyance a couple of years prior and been unable to get hold of his contact details. It’s a long story, but to cut it short it was no coincidence when eventually I was ‘pointed’ in the right direction and there in front of me was a flyer advertising Richard’s next platform. I booked a one-to-one session with Richard and it was amazing, but more was to come. He introduced me to the Vedic Gayatri Mantra and I attended two sessions he held in Nailsworth, Glos in the UK. He also introduced me to meditation and I now use his CD’s to aid my thought processes. I have read everything Richard has written and it has answered so many of my questions about life after death, angels and spirituality. So it’s my great pleasure to introduce and welcome Richard.

I’d love you to tell my visitors about your latest book, another insightful read and great addition to your list of publications. I must admit that I originally sought out your books because I had questions that remained unanswered and what I’ve read has certainly opened my eyes to so many things. But first I wondered if you would mind penning one of your wonderful ‘thoughts for the day’ – something that will inspire everyone and make them stop what they are doing to think about something in a little more detail for just a moment.’

“Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog Linn, and yes, it would be a great pleasure for me to share a wonderful piece of inspiration with you. The following is a quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and it is probably my favourite quote of all time. What I find so inspirational about these quotes is that they can have a number of different meanings depending on your perspective, but as you develop and grow spiritually you are able to look deeper and deeper into the words until the meanings becomes more and more profound.

“make your life a rose and speak silently in the language of fragrance”

For me this has a very deep and profound meaning that I will endeavour to share with you. The rose has a wonderful scent that is quite impossible to describe in words. The scent of a rose simply speaks for itself; in volumes. So when Baba says “make your life a rose and speak silently in the language of fragrance” he is asking us to overcome attachment to the ego-self, pay less attention to words and let our actions speak for us. Nature has a wonderful way of teaching us, and it’s quite incredible how the rose quite effortlessly gives off such an amazing fragrance that is so powerful in its simplistic beauty. The rose does this simply by being itself, and this is also what Baba is saying; if we were to just be ourselves instead of worrying about what others think and how we look in the eyes of others we would simply shine in the way we were meant to. Our “way of being” would speak for us and we would be an example for all those around us.

Another quote that I find really inspirational is “climb the mountains to receive their blessings” from Marcus Aurelius. This again is quite profound in its simplicity. This is another way of saying “no pain – no gain”, or to be a bit more subtle; Marcus is telling us that the rewards derived from hard work are worth the slog. Symbolically, “climb the mountains” means anything that we undertake that is hard to accomplish and “receive their blessings” equates to the reward, which is the sense of achievement we get from having completed the task.

Many quotes are self-explanatory and simple to understand, which is the way I like to write. Indeed, one of the most common things that people say to me when they have read my books is that the topics I write about are always explained in a very clear and easy-to-understand way. So I’m going to end this little article with some words from Albert Einstein that I came across the other day for the first time. I think this is a classic example of a quote that is logic in its most pure and simple form. So, I’ll just say thanks again Linn for having me as a guest on your blog, and it’s over to Albert…..

“we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”

 

A Bit Of Inspiration Never Did Anyone Any Harm

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I recently appeared as a guest on the blog of wonderful author, Nicky Wells, and wrote a blog post especially for the occasion.  Because it received so many positive comments I’ve decided to share it here with my own followers.  incidentally, I value your support immensely and am humbled that you have taken the trouble to follow my posts.

Here is the article in its entirety:

You Can’t Beat A Bit Of Inspiration

First of all I would like to thank the wonderful Nicky for having me as a guest on her blog.  I know that she has had a number of amazing writers as guests and it’s an honour for me to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before.

I have chosen as a theme for this short post, “inspirational quotes”.  I don’t know about you, but I love a bit of inspiration and I do get fired up by the thoughts and musings of the world’s great “quoters” both past and present.  Some pieces of inspiration are self-explanatory, such as this masterpiece from Marie Curie:

Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood

But there are other gems of wisdom that are open to interpretation and may need a bit of pondering before the meaning becomes apparent, such as this piece from Charles Dickens:

Have a heart that never hardens; a temper that never tires; a touch that never hurts

On the surface he appears to be contradicting himself with his talk of a temper that never tires, but if you think about it, it seems that he is actually talking about desire and enthusiasm; the fire one gets in the belly when one gets their teeth into a project; the drive to keep going right to the end.

I would like to share with you a couple of my personal favourites, and also my own slant on them.  Firstly, this wonderful quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba; I will never forget the feeling I had when I first came across this because it is so true and apt:

In your heart you will find peace, everywhere else you will find only pieces

These words are just so true.  If you think about it, when we take the time to find a quiet space and sit with our own reflections, we can and do find that inner peace that passes all understanding.  But in the helter-skelter of the outer world everything seems so disjointed.  We are always running here, there and everywhere; sometimes achieving nothing in the process, and the noise can sometimes be deafening.  Life really can seem like a 1000 piece jig-saw at times with the pieces scattered all over the place.  But when we find that inner peace nothing else seems to matter and we can experience that blissful feeling of being an impartial and silent observer, unruffled by all the chaos in the world.

Another quote that really inspires me is this one from Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Someone gave me a picture as a gift back in 2003, when I was moving to Wales, and this quote was on it:

Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

I only recently found out it was one of Ralph’s and it really makes me think whenever I’m having one of my “woe is me” phases.  I very recently saw American female singer, Melody Gardot, being interviewed on TV. I had not heard of her before, but she had been involved in a terrible accident and had used her time recovering in a hospital bed to learn to play the guitar.  Although she recovered she was left very sensitive to light and sound, but when the interviewer asked her about her ordeal she said the most wonderful thing.  She described the whole experience as the universe “opening its arms” and giving her the most amazing opportunity which she grasped with both hands.  It made me think of that quote and how she was a classic example of someone who dared to tread where most people would not and because of this she became a shining example for others to follow.

Well, I did say that this was going to be a short post, so all that remains now is for me to say thanks again to Nicky for having me as a guest on her blog……. Thanks Nicky!

Below is a link to Nicky’s blog.  She writes in the genre of romance and her blog is really worth a visit….. so check it out!

http://nickywellsklippert.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/centrestage-with-richard-holmes-get-inspired-here-today/

I’m still as cheeky as ever!

Thought For The Day #61

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Put Me first in everything; then all shall be added unto you. Be at peace. Striving gets you nowhere. It simply leaves you exhausted and frustrated because you never seem to be nearer the goal. Just learn to be. When you have ceased striving crawl into my loving arms.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought For The Day #45

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Death is sweeter than the blindness of ignorance.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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