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Restlessness of the mind leads to uncontrollable craving for objects of desire, a false sense of separateness, fear, and suffering. In fact, you are learning from yourself – your Higher Self teaches your individual Self. However, most often the teacher appears as a wise and experienced person; such a person we call, Guru.
In Vedic philosophy there is a deep concept of the “principle of the teacher.” A teacher is not so much a personality as a cosmic principle that can be embodied in various people who teach us throughout our lives.
Throughout your life, you meet a huge number of teachers who help you learn a lot of important things, teach all kinds of necessary disciplines, and pass on the necessary skills. However, the highest teachers foster knowledge and practices related to the knowledge of the eternal and pure nature of the soul. A true teacher always remains transparent, striving to point out to the student the infinite potentials of his soul. The teacher reminds the student of his original freedom, for only a free person can realize his divinity. The delusions from which the teacher is freed are the false idea of his own weakness and infirmity.
The teacher guides the student to find his purpose in life and to realize his God-given talents. The teacher opens the soul of the student, just as a lotus flower opens at sunrise. You are incarnated with a special spiritual mission, but each person around you is unique, also incarnated with a special spiritual mission – no one is better or worse than you, all people are different, each person is unique – each person is an infinite spirit gaining experience of earthly existence.
Inspired wisdom not only comes from teachers, but also can be found in many books, particularly sacred, spiritual texts. Any scripture performs the functions of a teacher when talking about the inner divinity of a person and blessing the reader. In every tradition, sacred scriptures are respected and held in high regard. In Christianity, it is the Gospel; in Hinduism, it is the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads; in Judaism, it is the Torah. A careful and thoughtful reading of sacred texts clarifies perception and brings down blessings.
In fact, life itself is the greatest teacher. Everyone is able to recall well a number of situations that taught them significantly more than theoretical lectures. It is important to perceive the events of life not just as a series of random events, but as lessons to be learned that offer something useful to be learned from them.
Being a student is very difficult. The student is not the one who puts the portrait of the teacher on the home altar and burns candles and incense to it every day. A true student is one who embodies the wise instructions of his teacher in his daily life.
Sathya Sai Baba directed people to self-study, often repeating that the true teacher is in the Spiritual Heart. It is in the depths of the soul that the most profound answers to all questions can be found. Divinely, every person has a mysterious desire to explore the nature of his Self – this is the essence of the spiritual path.
54. Miraculous photos of Sathya Sai Baba
This is a story about a Japanese man I met at the ashram who told me an amazing story about his friend, who was also a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba.
Returning home from India to Japan, this friend hung a picture of Sathya Sai Baba in his room above his bed. In this part of Japan, where this devotee lived, earthquakes sometimes occurred. Unfortunately, shortly after his return from the ashram, a massive earthquake struck, causing several buildings to collapse. The earthquake occurred at night, which was especially dangerous.
The man woke to hear a roar and strange cracking noises. Three walls of the house in which he lived had collapsed. After the noises subsided, he got out of bed to inspect the damage. It was then he realized he’d been sitting unharmed on the bed. What was left of the house was a wall and part of the roof, but it was the very wall on which was hung the cheerful photo of Sathya Sai Baba.
The following story is similar, but it happened with one of my Russian friends. Alexander sat down in front of a photograph of Sathya Sai Baba late in the evening, lit a candle and began to practice mantras. He relaxed so much he did not notice how he fell asleep, yet in a dream he saw Sathya Sai Baba.
Waking in the morning, Alexander saw that during the night, while he was asleep, a fire broke out in his house. The candle fell igniting the tablecloth and as a result the photo of Sathya Sai Baba also caught fire. The fire strangely went out by itself. It is interesting that the photo of Sathya Sai Baba was burned exactly along the contour of his figure.
55. Bright thoughts, wise words, and perfect action
Mango is not just a sweet and tasty fruit, but a deep symbol meaning the fruits of human good deeds. To taste sweet mango, symbolically, means to gain the fruits of spiritual awareness, harmony, and peace. Meeting with Sathya Sai Baba, itself, is the result of many good deeds in past lives, but it is important not only to see the external form of Sathya Sai Baba, but with the help of his blessings to find peace in the soul and to open the endless space of possibilities and potentials in your heart. Sathya Sai Baba poured out mercy on everyone who came to see him and he brought down the divine energy, which brought people into amazing mystical states and helped them experience the infinity of consciousness.
Reading books can help you gain intellectual knowledge while the path of meditation allows you to gain the treasure of self-realization. In meditation, the delusion that you are a limited being disappears, just as darkness disappears when the sun rises in the morning. You are the master of your thoughts, words, and actions, which means only you create your reality. There are no accidents in life – everything is the result of cause and effect. In meditation the illusion of separation and conflict dissolves and the true reality of unity in diversity remains.
The mango is a symbol of the spiritual fruits you receive as a result of intensive and deep practice of meditation and service in society. In meditation all doubts and conflicts come to an end. Your bright thoughts, wise words, and perfect actions create a happy and joyful space.
If something does not make you happy or does not bring you joy, leave it with gratitude and move on with your wonderful life, for you consciously and freely choose only that which brings joy, happiness, contentment, bliss, and peace into your life.
56. Self-esteem and inner freedom
There are quite a lot of misconceptions that spirituality and individual freedom are allegedly in conflict. The essence of spirituality is in the realization of the Truth about the nature of one's Self. Personal freedom is the most important foundation of the spiritual process of self-knowledge. A free person trusts his intuition, while a person deprived of freedom is guided by domineering opinions. A free person is responsible for his actions, while a person deprived of inner freedom shifts responsibility to others.
A free-thinking person is able to reflect on the essence of his soul, while a person deprived of inner freedom can only memorize the thoughts of others. Whatever the great thoughts of the sages, they do not need to be thoughtlessly memorized, because then they become dogma. Personal freedom ultimately leads to the core of the Absolute Self, which only a truly free person can open.
True freedom is always associated with caring for everyone around you. If you realize your freedom to the detriment of other people, then this is ordinary selfishness, which has nothing to do with freedom. Many books have been written and many sermons delivered about the need to love and care for others, but all this has long become dogmas and beautiful words.
Only one who practices meditation begins to deeply feel the unity of all people. Feeling the unity of all that exists, a deep understanding of morality and ethics arise, but not as dry and lifeless book ideas, but as a natural need of a spiritual person.
People around you may be friendly, support your ideas and projects, but some of your relatives and friends may be very negative. They may constantly try to instill in you that you are allegedly not capable of doing anything in life. Remember that you are free because of what you know about yourself and your talents. This self-understanding is more important than what others think.
When your self-esteem is more valuable to you than what the world around you can dictate, you not only understand your purpose in life, but you begin to embody all your talents and share the things that are really important in life.
57. Believe in yourself and make your choice
This next story seems so insignificant on the surface, but in fact it shows Sathya Sai Baba's amazing attentiveness to every detail and to every person.
One day Sathya Sai Baba came to Mumbai (Bombay) to meet his devotees and students studying under the program of the Universities of Sathya Sai Baba. Preparations were made for his arrival, including many students lining up in front of the entrance of the university. Each of them had one red flower in their hands, which they were going to present to their dear guest.
Among the greeters was a small boy, who was taking a preparatory course and was not yet a university student, so he was not allowed to stand in the front row, and he was not allowed to give Sathya Sai Baba a flower. The boy was very upset about this but decided not to give up. Finally, the long-awaited day came for the meeting of Sathya Sai Baba, and his car drove up.
The young boy edged his way toward the students awaiting Sathya Sai Baba’s approach and quietly squeezed through the crowd. He really wanted to give Sathya Sai Baba a flower, and he must have been very worried he would not be given such an opportunity. Seeing a simple flower on the ground in front of him, the boy must have joyfully picked it up.
Sathya Sai Baba passed by the students with each one offering him a flower. As a sign to show each student he accepted their offering, Sathya Sai Baba simply smiled and touched each flower. As there was an empty seat in the front row, the boy, going unnoticed by anyone, confidently stood up with the other students. When Sathya Sai Baba approached the little boy, he gladly took the flower into his hands.
The meeting lasted quite a long time and throughout the whole program Sathya Sai Baba lovingly held this small flower in his hands. Everyone around was surprised as to where this flower in his hands had come from until they realized it was the flower given to him by the young boy.
There were many miracles, unusual events, and stories in Sathya Sai Baba's life. Some of his miracles are very significant and even amazing, and some seem barely noticeable, but that did not make them any less significant in their essence. In fact, there were no trifles for him.
This story shows that freedom can manifest itself in many ways. Each of us regularly makes choices. Only a person who believes in himself can make his choice in life and achieve his goal.
58. Easy to workship Guru, but difficult to follow his teachings
I am sometimes asked: who is Sathya Sai Baba? Everyone knows that he is the most famous spiritual teacher of our time, but the question speaks to who he is, in essence. I think it is important to find your Sathya Sai Baba in your heart. Some connect him with the energy of Shiva, while others see Krishna in him.
Of course, Sathya Sai Baba has many opponents who accuse him of fraud and even black magic. If a person cannot understand and accept a great teacher, then it is best not to devote yourself, rather try to find your spiritual path in something else. The most correct thing is to go deep into meditation, open your heart and mind, and there, in the depths of your inner world, open your own Sathya Sai Baba.
Sathya Sai Baba said that Self is the original and true name of God. Thus, faith in one's True Self is the highest manifestation of faith in God. Sathya Sai Baba is a great sage who has infinite love and compassion. His teaching is not about “who he is,” but about what the essence of the soul of each person is. He preached not so much his own divinity, but the divinity of each person.
It is very easy to build numerous temples and install magnificent statues of Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Sathya Sai Baba. It is easy to worship teachers, but it is much more difficult to follow their teachings. There are many huge statues of Buddha in the world, but few people try to practice meditation and compassion as taught by the Buddha.
There are many churches and monasteries in the world with beautiful icons and sculptures of Jesus, but few are ready to try to embody in their lives the ideals of love and direct communication between man and God that Jesus Christ preached. In our time, there are more and more temples of Sai Baba, altars with his image, and this is very nice, but let's think not only about formal worship, but also about the embodiment of the wise messages that Sathya Sai Baba left us.
Sathya Sai Baba left the physical body, but he continues to bless all people. When he was in the body, we could come to him, enjoy the fellowship with him, discuss our questions with him and listen to his wise instructions. What to do now when he has left the body? Sathya Sai Baba is an extraordinary phenomenon, of which there are few examples in history. Even after he has left his physical body, his ability to give answers to prayer appeals remains exactly the same as during his lifetime.
The tomb of Sathya Sai Baba is located in his native village of Puttaparthi, in the very south of India. When a great teacher leaves his body, his relics become an object of reverence. The relics continue to work miracles and answer people's prayers.
Despite the fact that Sathya Sai Baba left his physical body, on the subtle plane he continues to visit people in dreams, give answers to questions, help in difficult situations, bless, and instruct on the spiritual path.
We are really incredibly blessed that we were lucky enough to be close to the Avatar, the divine incarnation, and watch his endless games.
One aspect of the spiritual path is the practice of meditation, mantras, and the study of philosophical texts. In Sanskrit this is called sadhana. By practicing meditation and mantras, you gain the wisdom and mystical experience of Divinity. The goal of spiritual practice is not to become smarter or more educated, but to experience in your inner mystical experience what is written in the sacred texts.
There are many stories in the Vedic texts about how demons also practiced mantras and rituals. What is the difference between a demon and a spiritual person? Practicing meditation and mantra is only half the story. Meditation and mantra must be practiced on the firm foundation of the right motivation of love and compassion. Buddha, Jesus, and Sai Baba emphasized the importance of serving the people who are right next to you.
It is easy to proclaim beautiful theories that the True Self is everywhere and in everything, but it is much more difficult to see the True Self in the people around you. Through his life, Sathya Sai Baba set an example of a perfect life in the joy of divine creativity and service to all mankind.
59. Sathya Sai Baba blessed human beings and gods
This is a story told to me by Padananda. It takes place during the time when there were not so many devotees around Sathya Sai Baba. I was lucky to communicate with people who lived in the ashram in those distant years, when Sathya Sai Baba was very young, and his ashram was just being built.
He told me this story so emotionally and in detail that it began to seem to me that he himself was one of the participants in everything that happened. When I tried to ask him directly about it, he waved his hands and said that all of this happened not to him, but to two of his friends. Who knows?
One day two devotees were sleeping on the veranda right under the windows of Sathya Sai Baba's room. In later times, this was no longer possible due to the large number of visitors, but in those distant blessed times, devotees could fall asleep right at the door of their beloved teacher. On that day, everyone in the ashram fasted in honor of a special holiday.
The Vedic tradition also has its own fasting system called Ekadashi. This fast is observed for one day, falling on the eleventh day of the lunar calendar. In accordance with tradition, it is recommended to arrange fasting days for yourself on this day according to the lunar calendar, which favorably affects the health and emotional state of a person.
The most important post in the annual cycle is called Vaikuntha Ekadashi. The observance of this fast is considered especially important and auspicious. Vedic myths tell that Lord Vishnu listens especially carefully to the prayers of people and instantly blesses those who fast on this day.
So, the day we are now remembering was Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which is the most important post of the year. The two devotees were sleeping peacefully on the veranda under the night sky full of stars. They suddenly woke up after hearing a strange noise. Looking around, they saw a bright light shining from Sathya Sai Baba's window.
The light was so strong and flickering that both devotees immediately realized it could not come from an ordinary light bulb. Frightened, they went to the room in order to check what was going on. Opening the door, they saw a strange sight that surprised them so much they were forced to stop at the entrance and could not enter the room even a single step.
Sathya Sai Baba was reclining on the bed. He seemed to be in a state of deep trance. Directly in front of him stood several luminous Gods and Demigods, who respectfully bowed to Sathya Sai Baba. Around the bed, seven large fires were burning right in the air. Both devotees watched this scene for a while and then respectfully left, carefully closing the door behind them. Almost all night the light shone from the windows of the room, and the two devotees reverently prayed sitting nearby.
The next morning, they approached Sathya Sai Baba and asked him to explain the meaning of what they saw the previous night. Sathya Sai Baba explained that the seven fires burning around his bed were in fact the Sapta Rishis, the seven ancient sages. They came to his room along with the Gods and Demigods.
Important festivals of the Vedic tradition were regularly held in the ashram. Vedic holidays were celebrated, and the most important holidays of world religions were also celebrated: Buddha's birthday, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Jewish New Year. Sathya Sai Baba never suggested that people change their religion. He helped people to understand more deeply the teachings and practices of the tradition to which each one belonged.
Sathya Sai Baba blessed Hindus to study the Vedas and practice mantras, Christians to study the New Testament and practice prayers, and Muslims to study the Koran and pray. No matter what language you speak to God, ultimately all prayers reach the Highest Divinity, which is your True Self.
God is love, and because of love He incarnates in the world of people. Being among people, Sathya Sai Baba simultaneously blessed the heavenly Gods, who sometimes appeared visibly in his room. There were many such stories. In later years, I and a few of my friends saw how, on special days, luminous balls appeared in the sky above Sathya Sai Baba's house and then flew rapidly toward his chambers.
60. Mindful breathing is the eternal presence of the Spirit of God
Sathya Sai Baba often preached the So-Ham meditation. In this book we have already considered this meditation. While seemingly simple, it is actually a complex and powerful technique. According to my observations, most people, having learned about this technique, do not attach much importance to it, as it seems too simple.
The first sound "So" means God the Father. The second sound "Ham" means the individual soul. During the execution of this technique, it is necessary to be aware of the process of your breathing, mentally pronouncing “So” on each inhalation and “Ham” on each exhalation. The sound “So” is mentally pronounced on the inhale, and the sound “Ham” is mentally pronounced on the exhale.
It is not necessary to say these sounds in Sanskrit. You can say them in your own language: "I am God." As you inhale mentally say “I”, as you exhale mentally say "God".
On inhalation, spiritual energy rises up the spine, and on exhalation, it descends. This movement of energy happens every time you breathe, whether you are aware of it or not. In order for the movement of vital energy to be stronger, it is necessary to strengthen it with visualization.
You can imagine how with each inhalation an energy ball of light rises up the spine from the coccyx to the crown, and with each exhalation this imaginary ball of light descends from the crown to the base of the spine into the coccyx.
Visualization is a powerful technique that sets energy processes in motion. We often talk about the famous principle: "if you can imagine something, it's already happening." As I mentioned, energy circulates through the spine whether you are aware of it or not, but you can enhance this process with your visualization.
Meditation is not about achieving something but contemplating what is already here and now. In meditation, you discover and notice what is already the essence of your being. In meditation, you don't need to strive anywhere, you just need to be yourself.
You begin your meditation by being aware of the breath, which is already happening, you just have to notice it. Then, begin to fix your attention on the divine, such as the image of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or Sathya Sai Baba. Over time, you will realize that you do not need to reach God, you just need to notice him, because he initially dwells in the depths of your heart.
The ancient philosophical text
The poetic lines of the
Both in the Bible and in the Vedas, there are many images showing that God breathes life into a person – breathing is life itself given by God. In breathing, God manifests himself clearly every second in every person. People go on distant pilgrimages to the sacred mountains of Kailash or Arunachala, or to the sacred cities of Jerusalem or Varanasi.
All pilgrimages are made in order to meet with God, even while he is always present in the Spiritual Heart. True pilgrimage is conscious breathing that reveals the incorruptible treasures of the Spiritual Heart.
The
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