Sri Saibaba Temple , Nashville , TN Weekly Newsletter Volume 93

[Sri Saibaba Temple - Nashville]

Sairam

 

We are all shot through with divine energy just as much as we each frequently relate to the world from a tiny, personal ego-centric place which can appear to diminish that inherent divinity. We have to work to realise the Divine within, but the ‘little me’ is just right there ‘in your face’ from the moment we awake in the morning! And it is this ‘little me’ which relates to the world through a lense of duality: me and you, them and us, right and wrong. The Divine knows all these things to be false, of course, but we do them anyway, because somehow that’s how we’re programmed and programming can take a long time to shift!

There’s a reason for this love of duality of course. It’s more comfortable than living with the paradoxical nature of the universe in which all that we see outside of us exists also within; in which we are responsible for the quality of our consciousness in each moment, because we know without a doubt that it contributes directly to the collective energy field from which we all draw our living breath. Black and white certainty is easier to navigate than both/and, ‘as within so without’ and, as the Mayans say ‘You are another myself’.

Shirdi Sai Baba himself described what it was like to have merged with the cosmic energy and be beyond the dualities of the created world, 

“I am formless and everywhere. I am in everything. I am in everything and beyond. I fill all space. All that you see, taken together, is myself. I do not shake or move. All that is seen is my form. I am in the water, in dry places, in woods, amidst crowds, and in the solitary wilderness. I am in the fire and in the ether. I am not limited to any place. 
Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose, remember this well that all what you do is known to me. I am the inner ruler of all and seated in their hearts. I envelop all the creatures, the movable, and immovable world. I am the controller the wire-puller of the show of this universe. I am the mother, of all beings, the harmony of the three gunas, and the propeller of all senses, the creator, preserver, and destroyer. Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention towards me, but maya will lash or whip him who forgets me. All the insects, ants, the visible, movable and immovable world, are my body and form.” 

 

The state beyond duality is not only the ultimate expression of enlightenment; it is also the ultimate state of compassion. By living in this state of compassion the forces of negativity no longer hold you. It is then that you discover the ultimate paradox of the spiritual journey that only by embracing all of creation, including negativity, do you escape from the effects of negativity. 

 

Baba said that He was omnipresent, occupying land, air, country, world, light and heaven, and that He was not limited. To remove the misunderstanding of those, who thought that Baba was only His body - three cubits and a half in length, He incarnated Himself in this form and if any devotee meditated on Him day and night with complete self-surrender, he experienced complete union (without any difference) with Him like sweetness and sugar, waves and sea, eye and its luster. He, who wants to get rid of the cycle of births and deaths, should lead a righteous life, with his mind calm and composed. 

He should always engage himself in good actions, should do his duties and surrender himself, heart and soul to Him. He need not then be afraid of anything. He who trusts Him entirely, hears and expounds His Leelas and does not think of anything else, is sure to attain Self-realization. Baba asked many to remember His name and to surrender to Him, but to those, who wanted to know who they were ('Who am I' enquiry), He advised Shravanam (study) and Mananam (meditation). To some, He advised remembering God's name, to others hearing His Leelas, to some worship of His Feet, to others reading and studying Adhyatma Ramayan, Jnaneshwari and other sacred scriptures. Some He made sit near His Feet, some He sent to Khandoba's temple, and some 

He advised the repetition of the thousands names of Vishnu and some the study of Chhandogya Upanishad and Geeta. There were no limit, nor restriction to His instructions. To some, He gave them in person. To others by visions in dreams. To one addicted to drink, He appeared in his dream, sat on his chest, pressed it and left him, after he gave a promise not to touch liquor anymore. To some, He explained some Mantras like `Gurur Brahma' in dreams. To some devotee, who was practising Hath-Yoga, He sent word that he should leave off Hath-Yoga practices, sit quiet and wait (Saburi). It is impossible to describe all His ways and methods.

Editorial Team

Temple Seva Committee

Sri Saibaba Temple of Universal Oneness 

www.srisaibabatemple.org