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Sai Message of Love
A brief
Sai Message of Love:
Sai, the ‘Omkar’ of Divine Love says ‘My
Life is My Message’; ‘My Message is Love’. And the Message relates to
the precept of awareness of Truth of Love as God; the practice of
consciousness of Truth of Love as Indwelling Divinity in all beings;
and the experience of cultivating the Love Principle and manifesting
Love in one’s thoughts, words and actions.
Baba says:
Love expresses itself as service—Love
grows through service, Love is born in the womb of service. Such Love
is the solvent for the hardest of hearts and can confer peace, joy and
wisdom. Love is the best spiritual discipline that can help man into
universal love, unshaken equanimity and ever-active virtue. Love as
thought is Truth: Love as action is Right Conduct; Love as
understanding is Peace; and Love as feeling is Non-violence.
Sai Miracle of Love
Sai is the Miracle of Love incarnated on
earth to reform and transform the living kind, and recycle the Yugas
back to Sathya Yuga. That is from human destitution and spiritual
degradation to human excellence and remaking of man into divinity man;
from erosion of human values to vigorous practice of Dharma,
reaffirmation of Sathya and retransfusion of Prema.
The ‘Sai’ Principle implying three-fold
transformation is an extension of Love Principle, i.e., Love which has
to be experienced at the spiritual, social and individual levels,
through the process of change as under:
‘S’ for Spiritual change, the basis for
which is Love, which has to be imbibed by all;
‘A’ for Association change or change of
attitude to society i.e., to foster loving relationship and to
cultivate sympathy and understanding with fellow beings;
‘I’ for Individual change i.e.,
eschewing bad habits and qualities so that inherent goodness of man
becomes transparent and human personality can blossom.
Since spiritual change cannot take place
without changes at the individual and societal levels, Sai Love is
showered through miracles to instill faith among those concerned. Such
miracles of love take the shape of manifested objects including rings,
necklaces, sacred images, crucifixes etc., divine visions and multiple
appearances of the Avatar at different places and across the oceans at
one and the same time; cures and taking up fatal diseases and ailments
of others; revival of the dead; instant response to distress calls and
above all correcting, reforming and transforming the wicked and the
misguided persons.
Baba, who does not personally attach too
much significance to miracles, says that they are part of his
essential miraculousness, and incidental to His Mission of
establishment of Dharmic way of life, His supreme task is to bring
about spiritual regeneration and to unite the entire mankind as one
family through the bond of brotherhood and to bring nation by nation
under one Umbrella of Love and Harmony.
Sai Strategy of Love
Sai Strategy is the vehicle to lead man
to the Love of the Lord. It is based on Sai teachings and
precepts-Practices. Treasured with Vedic faculties such as knowledge,
skills, balance and vision, it will be ideal in the service of man of
God for God in man. It calls for human action to spread peace and
spirituality, right conduct and right thinking both for one’s own
self-enlightenment as well as betterment of mankind as a whole. It
promotes heightened awareness of inner Divinity and the power of
intuition to discriminate between right & wrong and what is permanent
& substantive or transitory & inconsequential in life’s journey.
The major components for practical
application of Sai Strategy to make man work out his own miracles and
experience the real bliss in life and living are the following:
(a) Re-engineering Human Values for
Higher Life
In the context of human predicament when
man has forgotten his essential humanness and degraded himself with
low goals of self-centered life as well as unscrupulous patterns of
behaviour, there is added urgency to re-engineer human values for
higher life. The uniqueness of Sai Strategy of Love therefore lies in
enabling the man to re-humanise himself through the self-cultural
application of values in live situations as under:
Truth as the ultimate reality or
fundamental fact of creation or native human nature;
Right Conduct as an essential social
ethic to be observed by man as a member of society;
Peace as the inner spirit of Fatherhood
of God and outer manifestation of Brotherhood of Man;
Love as life-breath of man, a tool for
peaceful co-existence and a ladder for human emancipation;
Non-violence as an exercise to hurt
never, nor cause to hurt ever in thought, word or actions.
Baba compares the above five human
values to the five life principles of man viz, Prana, Apana, Vyana,
Udana and Samana. He says that a true human being is one who practices
the five human values.
Thus, re-engineering of human values
makes gold out of man because of his great faith in God, humanity and
spirituality.
(b) Re-harmonizing 3HV for Higher Living
It is well known that the present
degeneration of man is on account of deformed thoughts of head,
hypocritical forces of heart and misdeeds of hands. This is attributed
to the fact that man thinks one thing, says another and does something
else. It is in this connection that Baba questions as to how a man can
be called a human being when there is no harmony in thought, word and
deed.
It is divine love that confers Vedic
wisdom of Trikaran Suddhi, the purity and harmony of 3HV i.e., the
values of Head (thought), Heart (speech) and Hands (action). The
awareness of Love as God and God as Love within and around the man
makes him reshape every thought, word and deed in common interest. The
Sai ethics of ‘Be Good, See Good and Do Good’ in practice accords him
self-cleansing and equanimity-minded poise.
With such harmony and with Baba’s dictum
of ABC (Always Be Careful) obeyed, man would be eligible to enjoy the
bliss of higher living. Since frequently doing right things would make
it easier to do right, this habit grows into conscience, says Baba.
He clarifies:
By good thinking and good actions, by
watching his thoughts, by introspection and upright behaviour, the man
builds up his noble character and forms his high destiny.
By conforming to the 3HV formula in
day-to-day life, it would be possible for man to establish standards
of higher thinking and living for himself and help others to do the
same simultaneously i.e., working oneself to succeed and also helping
others towards success in the same process, in the words of Baba.
Under these circumstances, Truth would
prevail and Righteousness would exist. Hands would perform right deeds
and by virtue of Right Conduct and good actions, mind would be
purified, and heart would be full of love and compassion. Unity of
thoughts and deeds would thus be possible. Purity of mind would lead
people to think themselves constructively and of serving others
selflessly. This transformation would generate positive feelings
amongst humankind, and the greed and disharmony would gradually
disappear, yielding place to the Sai Principle of “Help Ever, Hurt
Never”, in action.
(c) Re-awakening of Senses for Higher
spiritual Progress
This refers to the awakening of the
dormant divinity (Atma or Conscience) of man, whose soul has been
surrounded by the dust of greed, ego, anger and sensuous feelings. It
paves the way for the higher realization that man is in fact the crown
of creation, the highest among the living beings and as such he bears
great responsibility to all other beings. He has to love them, serve
them and save them for they are his kith and kin, and to be reckoned
as equal since they too have the spark of divinity within them.
It is this awakening that sustains the
eternal truth that man is himself the supreme healer of mankind. For
this, he has to hear the voice of his conscience and act according to
its dictates. Baba says: Your conscience will tell you whether you
adore the majesty of God, whether your hands are moving to help the
helpless. So also does it promote the realisation of the impermanence
of the mundane, phenomenal world, passing clouds of youth and wealth,
and the inevitable mortality of family members and friends.
It is divine love that reveals that man
has the whole universe within him and that he had all the requisite
powers derived from the Divine spirit. He has to discover the hidden
treasure of mind, the greatest marvel of the world, and make
constructive use of its million cells, which lie, dormant and
unutilised. While referring to various scientific endeavors including
satellites going around the earth, the spacecraft landing on the moon,
harnessing the solar energy, atom bomb, hydrogen bomb, super computers
etc., Baba says: “There is one machine that is more powerful than all
these. That is the human body. Man is the maker of all these machines.
The marvelous powers of the human body are not recognised by any one.
You should examine your own potentials. All the powers are within you:
electrical power, magnetic power, the power of light, fire and
radiation. Every human being is a computer, a mini generator, a lamp,
a radio station”.
Thus, re-awakening of senses unfolds the
full potential of man, especially his true humanness to think and act
with selfless love, compassion and service to his fellowmen. This is
best expressed in Sai words: “Love All, Serve All”.
Closely allied with this philosophy is
the declaration of the Sai Avatar: “Love your religion, so that you
may practice it with greater faith; and when each one practices his
religion with faith, there can be no hatred in the world, for all
religions are built on Universal Love”.
In short, the religion that feeds and
fosters all religions, and emphasizes their common greatness is the
Sai Religion (if it can be so called), which makes a Hindu, a better
Hindu; a Muslim, a better Muslim; and a Christian, a better Christian.
Baba has a special word on the Chanting
of the Name of Lord, as the ideal form of devotion for human
redemption or salvation in the present age. He calls upon people to
repeat any one of the 1,000 names of the Lord, current in any part of
the world, among any community of devotees, as an instrument to
pulverize the mountains of sin and to attain peace and contentment.
Such human elevation engenders the
re-discovery of the eternal truth of universal oneness. It is in this
context that Baba says: "There is only one race, the race of humanity;
there is only one caste, the caste of spirituality; there is only one
language, the language of the heart; there is only one universal
religion, the religion of love, of humanity and of Godliness."
(d) Re-humanizing Arts & Sciences for
Higher wisdom
True to the decline in moral, ethical
and spiritual values is the present degeneration in society and the
human crisis of character at large which is purely man-made. Creating
a world of his own, man has turned the mind, which is the instrument
of his liberation into a chain that keeps him in bondage. He has used
methods of education, codes of law, systems of politics, modes of
commerce and the results of science to imprison himself in prejudices,
creeds and nationalities, says Baba. To reverse this trend, the Sathya
Sai Education System has been pioneering at work starting with the
teaching of spiritual education to the child through EHV (Education in
Human Values), and upwards through 3HV described earlier, for adults.
Deep rooted is the human predicament
that the present day academic and practical education needs to be
reformed and even revamped with the culture of soul, purification of
the heart and broadening of the vision. This can be done only by
combining worldly education (which brings out the latest knowledge
pertaining to the physical world) and spiritual education (which
reveals the inherent divinity in man) to make human life valuable and
purposeful.
Elaborating on this, Baba points out how
modern education devoid of spiritual element, is responsible for the
downfall of man and the chaos in the society: Worldly education is for
living, while spiritual education is for life. Worldly education
relates to the head and is ephemeral, whereas spiritual education is
concerned with the heart, the organ of sacred qualities like
compassion, truth, forbearance and love. Besides, worldly education is
information or knowledge-oriented, spiritual education is
transformation or wisdom-directed.
The present day arts and sciences which
are oriented mostly to the materialist and modern Western knowledge
have therefore to be transformed, humanised and spiritualized for the
revival of ancient heritage, wisdom and glory of mankind.
Towards this end, a total revolution has
to be witnessed in the theory and practice of arts and sciences by
promoting social equity in economics, spirituality in science, values
in education, duty in health care, community obligation to nature,
ethics in politics, morality in administration, prompt justice in
judiciary, honesty in business and fairplay in diplomacy.
Sai Wonders of Love
In the service of the Divine Mission,
the Sai Avatar as under has established Sai Wonders of love:
(a) Sai Spiritual Education
The Sathya Sai philosophy of education
is derived from Sai ideals of life: Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and
Ahimsa.
Nationally and internationally well
known so long as the Bal Vikas Programme, it has been replaced by that
of Sai Spiritual Education – Sathya Sai EHV (Education in Human Values)
for children, and 3HV (Values of Head, Heart and Hands representing
the unity of thought, word and deed) for adults.
At the senior level is Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning given the status of Deemed University by
the Government of India. It has evolved a new model of Integral
Education, with special emphasis on the development of correct
attitudes and values, which shape the students to be leaders in
scientific, civic and professional institutions.
The uniqueness of the Sathya Sai
Institutions is also that education is free from K.G. to P.G. While
the Graduate students are exempted from the payment of all fees and
charges, the University is estimated to be spending Rs 60,000 per Arts
student and Rs 90,000 per Science student.
(b) Super Specialty Hospital
The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Medical
Science, i.e. , the Super Specialty Hospital at Prasanthigram has been
providing the poorer sections of the population the best of medical
and surgical facilities in the country, entirely free of cost.
It is a wonder of wonders in the medical
world’s architecture constructed in 1992 within the shortest time of
one year in recorded history. The Hospital is equipped with the most
modern and sophisticated apparatus and manned by highly dedicated
surgeons & associated personnel under the direction of medical
celebrities. It has Cardiology, Urology and Ophthalmology Department (latest
state-of-the-art treatment and diagnosis) with plans for additions of
Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, ENT, Pulmonary Medicine and
Oncology.
The highlights of the Hospital include
the highest record of successful open-heart operations, kidney
transplantation etc.
(c) Drinking Water Project
For the first time a public charitable
trust has undertaken a major infrastructure project, i.e., Sri Sathya
Sai drinking Water Project costing Rs 250 crores of voluntary
contributions of people from various countries.
The project benefits 12.5 lakh persons
in 731 backward villages in and around Anantapur and Puttaparthi,
Andhra Pradesh. It includes a 750-km-long water pipeline, 260 overhead
tanks, 124 ground level reservoirs and 400 boosters to carry the water
to far-flung villages, besides 280 borewells, 505 pumps and
infiltration wells in the Penna and Hagari rivers.
While the entire cost was entirely borne
by Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the Andhra Pradesh Government
provided land and power free of cost for the project. The project was
formally handed over to the State Government in October 1997.
Similar projects for Bellary in
Karnataka, Mehboobnagar in Andhra, Chennai, etc., are in progress
(d) Other Initiatives
It has established a Music College in
Puttaparthi and a Super Specialty Hospital in Bangalore City.
The above are some of the Sai Wonders of
Love. The open secret of success of the above lies in the abiding
spirit of Love as the basis, Love as the means and Love as the end in
Prashanthi Nilayam. It has so far awakened the springs of Love in the
hearts of millions of Sai devotees in over 150 countries of the world,
in various degrees.
Such Wonders of Love merit
multiplication around the world to promote globally Integrated Human
Development.
Posted on 15/08/2003 - Sai Devotees
Worldnet
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