This is the text of the talk
given by Dr. Keki Mistry, a dentist from Mumbai and
a long time devotee of Bhagawan Baba, in the Divine
Presence on the occasion of Christmas in 2004.
Beloved Bhagavan and
fellow pilgrims on the path in search for truth. On
behalf of us all I start with a small prayer. 'We
bow to thee, Oh Lord. All names are Your's; all
forms are Your's. With hands folded in prayer we
asked for the gift of a good mind so that we will
think good things, speak good words and do good
deeds. Forever keep us on the path of truth so that
we may walk life's highways and by-ways without fear
or favour, with love in our hearts, Your Name on our
lips and good actions flowing through our hands.
This prayer we pray to You to grant, oh Lord.'
Special Olympics…Amazing Spirit!
Fellow pilgrims, in the year
2000, the Para Olympics were held in Ireland. The
Para Olympics for kids is an Olympics for specially
advantaged children - differently advantaged
children. The 100 metres mixed race was on. There
were 10 lanes with 4 girls and 6 boys, each
representing their country. The gun went off and
everyone started. While they were in different
positions on the track, suddenly there was a noise
and the runner in the middle lane fell down.
The amazing thing that
happened was that everyone stopped! Each of the 9
other contestants stopped, turned around and all
went to the boy who had fallen down. One of
them picked him up, another one dusted his clothes
and a girl gave him a small kiss on the cheek and
said "That should make you alright". Then they all
linked hands and went towards the finish line
together. And remember this was at the Olympics.
There were 45,000
people in that stadium who all stood up and clapped
for 15 minutes - there was not a dry eye in the
audience. Why? These specially advantaged people
showed us the meaning of Sai's message. They bonded
together in love and went towards the goal together.
"Treat God as a Friend" – A Great Message
In the May issue of Sanathana
Sarathi, 1998, Baba says that we must treat
God as an old friend, and we should not put any
distance between Him and us. If you treat
Him as an old
friend you will respect Him, you will love Him, and
there will be mutual understanding. Bhagavan Baba
says you have a lot of respect for a new friend, but
still there is a little distance. An old friend is
somebody who with whom you naturally get along with.
Bhagavan Baba says treat the Lord as an old friend.
I think there can be no greater message for us.
Appreciate the
Chance
In the early days Bhagavan Baba
told us 'Appreciate and take in all that I
am giving you, because towards the end of My life on
earth, I will be less mobile and you will be less
able to approach Me.' We thought that You
would be surrounded by crowds - which You are. But
little did we know that You were giving us the final
message – 'Do not be attached to the
body-form, the body-form changes, but the message,
the message is constant.' Pay attention to
that constant message even now.
"He Is Not Your Son…No Cancer."
Talking of limitations of
movement my mind goes back to a personal experience.
In 1965, I developed a very bad cough, so bad that I
could hardly speak. I could not sleep flat on the
bed and I had to spend the nights either sitting
down or raised on many pillows.
I had myself medically checked
and they found a tumour the size of a golf ball in
the area between the nose and the throat, very close
to the brain. I was only 5 years into my dental
practice and I was doing fairly well. If I had not
been able to communicate it would have destroyed my
career.
Bhagavan called me -
how He did that is a different story for another day
- and I went to Him with my mother. He sent for my
mother saying 'Your mother is not well, bring her
along'. Well, one look at my mother and you could
tell that she was a sufferer of asthma.
There were 200 other
people waiting, all suffering in different ways and
we were called in 4th. I and my mother went inside
and Baba started to talk to my mother, telling her
about her asthma, but mother was not concerned about
herself. She finally asked the million dollar
question, 'Baba is it cancer?' Baba said 'He
is not your son. He has come only through you. No
cancer.' He then waved His hand and then
took out lot of ash and gave it to her. This was her
very first visit, but she got down on her knees to
receive it.
A
Cure, Really?
Believe me, my dear brothers and
sisters, my symptoms disappeared and I could speak
normally. I was very nervous thinking that this
'cure' was maybe a trick of my mind. So I did not go
to any doctors to verify this possibility. I was a
fully checked cancer case, with full records from an
ENT surgeon, a cancer specialist and one of Bombay
's leading surgeons.
Six months passed and
I was perfectly alright. But the mind plays monkey
tricks and I did not get myself checked - I was
afraid that the cure was not real. One morning I
suddenly got up and began to have a coughing fit and
I spat out lots of blood. I was extremely nervous
and went running to the ENT Surgeon who had seen me
earlier - a good friend of mine staying within a
stone's throw of my house. I asked him to
examine me. He gave me a local anaesthetic and on
investigation reported that 'There is nothing
there'. I was stunned. 'There is not even a trace of
tumour there' he continued. This gave me all the
confirmation that I needed.This is a documented case
and I am here speaking to you now because of the
grace of Bhagavan Baba!
Baba talks to us about
being friends. Treat God as a friend. This is a
certain duty that is enjoyed on us. Can we not
extend our hand in friendship and tell Him,
'Bhagavan Baba, Your hand is always there but
sometimes our grip may become a little loose,
sometimes it may be slippery. Please keep Your grip
on us. Let us pray right now, 'Bhagavan Baba we make
this pledge that we shall do everything in thought,
in word and in deed to see that Your message is
fulfilled.'
Puttaparthi Then…
Puttaparthi was a small dot on
the map of Anantapur. It was a cluster of huts in a
dusty village. The ladies had to go to the
Chitravathi River for water and the river bed was
often dry. A child had to walk 9 miles to go to
school; there was no medical aid to speak for 40
miles around; and to reach the village the last 3
miles had to be covered by bullock cart.
Puttaparthi Now …
Today Prashanti
Nilayam is the hub and centre of the spiritual
world. A University worthy of any university is here
and an educational institute where everything is
available from KG to Ph.D. A beautiful Hospital
giving free medical services as only as Swami can
manage, and now Prashanti Nilayam can be reached by
many roots - air, road and rail.
Let's Make God Our Friend…
I want you all to
think about this. He is the one Avatar who says
'Stretch your hand in friendship'.
Is it not beholden on us today to really seize on
that opportunity and tell him 'Bhagavan Baba, in
thought, in word and in deed we have stretched our
hand on Your 80th birthday. We solemnly pledge that
we have done this; and throughout that year and from
henceforth forever we shall be united as those
disadvantaged children and move towards that goal
which you have set out for us.'
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Bhagavan was
once telling the students, 'Be involved with
life, I do not want you to treat life as a
tiny flickering flame of a candle; rather as
blazing flame to be held for a while and
then to be passed on as a roaring fire.'
This roaring fire is that of enlightment, of
knowledge, of full realisation.
How Can
We Change The World?
Sometimes people ask 'How
do you propose to change the world?' The
answer to that question is, 'Why do you wish
to change the world? Change yourself and
there will be one more whole human being in
this world.' Today on this holy day
dedicated to that Master of Love, who has
spread this message of love, is it not
important to re-emphasize this message of
love which has been the ancient message of
Christ and the teachers of India for so
long.
Ye Duniya
Hai,
Wanha dil ka lagaana kisko aatha hai?
Hazaaro pyaara karte hai
Nibhaana kisko aatha hai?
'This is the world; but
who really knows how to share his heart?
Thousands love, but who loves to the end?'
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When today on
Christmas Day, Bhagavan has blessed this individual
on my 70th birthday to speak before you, it seems
like a miracle. I am really grateful for all that
You have done in my life to change it and I hope and
pray that You continue to shower all Your blessings.
In fact, Your blessings are always there on each one
of us! It is for us to tune ourselves to receive
those blessings Bhagavan.
Jai Sairam!
-
Heart2Heart Team