What is the centre of your life?
Dear Young Brothers and
Sisters,
In this edition of Tender Hearts, we
bring to you a very inspiring talk given in Swami's Presence by a
young student, in April 2003. He asks us…….
'WHAT IS THE
CENTRE OF YOUR LIFE?'
Let me begin
by telling you a little story, a story of a tree. This species of
tree is supposed to be the largest and the highest in the plant
kingdom. It is called the Giant Redwood tree. This tree grows in
certain parts of the North American continent. This tree reaches
the height of over a hundred feet. It's girth is expansive, its
strength is immense. In the bark of the tree is a certain
substance called tannin that gives it the red colour. Also, it
gives the tree a lot more security. Fire cannot burn this tree,
nor can water wet it.
This tree is like each and every one of us in our youth - strong
and invincible. But what brings the downfall of this tree? This
tree grows higher and higher. Thereafter, it falls down because it
cannot bear its own weight. Why? The tree has shallow roots.
No
matter what we are in our lives, no matter how strong, young and
powerful we are, if our roots are not deep enough, we will fall.
Our Lord said this morning that youth is the foundation of life.
If this foundation is not strong enough, if it does not go deep
enough, the building of our life will collapse when even a small
earth-shake strikes.
Where should we base this foundation of our lives ? Generally we
seek an education as the base of this foundation. We think that
education will give us knowledge, wisdom and intelligence so that
the foundation of our lives is strong, so that we will be strong.
It was when we were primary school students in Swami's school. One
day Swami came to our school and said, "Boys! The education for
which you have come here is like idli and
all that I teach you is like chutney."
One of the boys remarked, "Swami, idli is
supposed to be the main dish and chutney
'is only the side dish. Your Love, Your teachings are like the
idli and the worldly education is
like chutney." To this, Swami
replied, "Oh! No!" But the boys argued, "Swami, you are more
important to us. You are like the idli,
the world is like the chutney." After
some time. Swami looked at us with a smile and said, "See, without
the chutney,
idli is bland, tasteless and useless." Without Swami's
Love, without His teachings, without Swami in our lives, our lives
are bland and useless.
Let us ask ourselves, "What will be our lives without Swami?" Our
roots will be as shallow as those of the red wood tree. Any breeze
will blow us down, even a small gust of wind will bring us down to
the earth.
In our lives, at this age, we always seek a good piece of earth
where we can strike our roots, we seek a centre of our lives. Many
a time, the youngsters outside choose a wrong centre for their
lives.
I'll give you a small exercise. Just close your eyes and think for
yourselves. What is the thing that drives you every day? Who is
the person that influences every action of yours? Are our parents
the centre of our lives? Or are our friends the centre of our
lives? Please remember, God is our only true friend. In other
words, what should be the centre of our lives? We need a centre
that is the strongest. We need Sai as the centre of our lives.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are very lucky. We are a generation
on this earth blessed with a very rare
opportunity.
Where has been an Avathar so easily
accessible to the millions, especially to people like us? If we
make Him the centre of our lives, our lives will acquire
some value.
It was a day in Kodaikanal. Swami asked me,
"Are you ready to do whatever I say?"
"Yes Swami, I am ready," I replied.
With a smile, Swami said, "All right, are you sure?"
I said, "Sure. Swami, I will do whatever You say."
"Then go to the terrace and jump down," said the Lord.
I was stunned. Swami had asked me to do something which I would
never do in my senses. I looked into Swami's eyes, I had given my
word to Swami, I had to do whatever He commanded me.
I got up and made a dash to the stairs. But before I could get to
the foot of the stairs, Swami grabbed me in His arms. He looked at
me and said, "Bangaru, I will never
ask you to do such a thing. Even if you jump down, before you
reach the ground, 1 will come with My arms to catch you."
Dear brothers and sisters, we need a centre that will never let go
of us. We need a centre whom we will never let go of.
The incident did not stop there. The next day we were serving
breakfast in the dining hall. That day, the item for breakfast was
brinjal rice. Swami came to me with His mysterious smile and
asked,
"Are you ready to do whatever I say?"
This time, I was silent. I didn't have the courage to speak out.
"I won't ask you to jump from the terrace, will you do whatever I
say?"
I said, "Swami, I will." The events of the previous evening had
given me much confidence.
Swami looked at me, pointed to the bucket of brinjal-rice kept
there and said, "Sit down and eat the entire bucket of
brinjal-rice." Brinjal was not exactly my favourite vegetable. I
looked pleadingly at Swami. Swami smiled, everyone around had a
hearty laugh. Then He stopped. The chutney
was being added to my breakfast when He said, "Bangaru,
if you want to make Swami happy, you need not jump from the
terrace or eat buckets of brinjal-rice. You need not do anything
great. Just be good.... Just be good... That's all I want from
you."
If we have such a centre that will hold us so strong, that will
inspire so much of goodness and godliness in us, do we need to ask
for anything more?
We all believe in the law of Karma and
the doctrine of rebirth. We have been here many times before. We
have messed up all our previous births, that is why we are here
again. This is one chance when we can live differently. We might
have had different centres in our lives previously - money, power
or anything of that sort. But we are given a chance again, just to
live correctly.
This time, God is here with us, to teach us how to lead our lives.
Is it not prudent on our part to go on to Him, to make Him the
centre of our lives, to make this the last life which we will live
gloriously to the end, doing His work, being inspired by His
teachings, living our lives for Sai and making Sai's message our
lives?
The opportunity is our's. The Lord is gifting Himself to us. He is
standing with open arms saying, "Come, my children, Be a part of
My Mission. Make your life different." Whatever we do in His Name
is for ourselves so that our lives will become more worthwhile.
Make Sai the centre of your lives. We have all come here for a
task and our Lord is ready to give Himself to us. Let us seize
this opportunity, let us mould our lives into something which God
will feel proud about.
Jai Sairam
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, December 1, 2003
http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_01/07Dec01/08_TENDER_HEARTS/hearts.htm
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