In this edition
- Upcoming events
- Geetha Vahini
- Birthday Discourse on November 23, 1968
- Sabari’s Sadhana
- Devotional activities in Chicago and suburbs
Upcoming Events
- Daily Group Sadhana: From Oct 20th to Nov 23rd: Everyday preferably at 9 PM
- Every family member is encouraged to chant Gayathri 21 times preferably at 9 PM. This is a special offering from all of us to Swami as a group Sadhana on the occasion of Swami’s 94th Birthday.
- Saturday November 02, 2019: Special service project at FMSC, Schaumburg
- Time: 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM
- Venue: FMSC, 740 Wiley Farm Court, Schaumburg, IL 60173
- Saturday November 09, 2019 – Sunday November 10, 2019: Global Akhanda Bhajan
- Chicago Land all centers event
- Time: 06:00 PM – 06:00 PM
- Venue: Manav Seva Mandir, 101 S. Church Rd., Bensenville, IL
- Saturday November 23, 2019: 94th Birthday celebration of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
- Guest speaker, SSE presentation, Ladies day program, Birthday cake cutting
- Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Venue: Sant Nirankari Mission: 1S750 IL-59, West Chicago, IL
Geetha Vahini
Every single act of yours must be carried out with this Jnana (wisdom) as its background. That awareness of the Atma will guide you in both the out-moving and in-drawing paths, the Pravritthi Marga and the Nivritthi Marga. It will not block action but fill it with purpose and meaning. It will build up faith and moral life, it will take man to the realm of deliverance along the road of Nishkama Karma, the renunciation of the fruit of action, and not of action itself.
For the achievement of Liberation, Jnana is the direct road. Therefore, it is declared to be incomparably sacred. And, naturally, it follows that Ignorance is indubitably the most despicable. “See the Universal in the Particular; see the Particular in the Universal; that is the essence of Jnana,” said Krishna. “All Kshetras (bodies, fields) know only one single Kshetrajna (knower of the field or body). And, who is that? The Atma, that is to say, you yourself, your own self! Know this and you become a Jnani. So realize that the Atma is Paramatma (creator, universal soul); that is the Vijnana (wisdom).” Krishna, who is All-knowing, began to teach Arjuna this Yoga, in order to cast off all doubt from his mind.
“Arjuna! I taught this sacred Jnana Yoga to Surya, then it was handed down from one generation to another till Manu and Ikshvaku and from them, Rajarshis came to learn it. Then it (got) lost in the world. That ever-existing Yoga had to be restored to the world, and so I had to come.”
You will not fail to notice the discrepancy of the Yoga being described as ever-existing and the statement that it was lost! Of course, the statement was not made without thought. The indestructible is here spoken of as having been destroyed! It is called indestructible for two reasons. Its origin is the Veda, which is free from decline. This Yoga on account of passage of time, neglect and disuse, was forgotten. That is to say, it disappeared, it was lost to view, and it declined. “Lost to view” is the sense in which the word “destroyed” is used in a general way. That is how you have to interpret it, for the Lord will never devise a thing that will suffer “destruction.”
The reference to Surya also merits consideration. The people of Bharath are intimately associated with the Sun god. The heroes of Bharath, the Kshathriyas, are from the beginning attached to Surya. Even for ordinary men and women, Surya is so highly sacred that He has been raised to the status of the Great Guru. The sacred scriptures and legends of India have not assigned a status of similar glory to anyone else. It is a unique position that Surya occupies. Why, for the whole world, the Sun is the visible manifestation of the Lord. And the Sun is the source of Time. Surya is the father of Time (Kala) as the Sastras declare. The Sun limits and regulates the number of years each one lives. The Sun diminishes every day a fraction of the allotted span. So the Sun is the supreme arbiter, the maker of man’s destiny. Whether one wills or not, every deed of his is performed under His auspices and dedicated to Him.
Above all, consider the service the Sun does to this world! That is within the daily experience of all. Everyone is witness for that. The Sun is the source of all life, plant and animal, upon this planet. Without His rays, it will be a desolate waste. He draws up into the sky the waters of seas and lakes, and from the clouds He pours rain on the crops. He is ever the Dharmadevatha (God of Righteousness), scattering His rays equally on all.
Surya is the great Thyagi for unequalled renunciation. He is the great Yogi. Without a second’s thought of His own glory or of rest, He performs His Duty without thought of reward. He is humble and steady in work. The service He does is something no one else can fulfil. The happiness He contributes is something no one else can confer. But He has no pretensions to pride. He moves above unconcerned with the consequences of His energizing mission of service.
-Excerpts from Geetha Vahini
Birthday Discourse on November 23, 1968
For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil-doers and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I incarnate from age to age. Whenever disharmony (asanthi) overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning peace (prasanthi) and to reeducate the human community in the paths of peace. At the present time, strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, the society, the religions, the cities, and the state.
The arrival of the Lord is also anxiously awaited by saints and sages. My main tasks are fostering of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) and fostering of the devotees. Your virtue, your self-control, your detachment, your faith, your steadfastness: these are the signs by which people read of my glory. You can lay claim to be a devotee only when you have placed yourself in my hands fully and completely with no trace of ego. You can enjoy the bliss through the experience the Avatar confers. The Avatar behaves in a human way so that mankind can feel kinship, but rises into his superhuman heights so that mankind can aspire to reach the heights, and through that aspiration actually reach him. Realizing the Lord within you as the motivator is the task for which he comes in human form.
Avatars like Rama and Krishna had to kill one or more individuals who could be identified as enemies of the righteous (dharmic) way of life, and thus restore the practice of virtue. But now there is no one fully good, so who deserves the protection of God? All are tainted by wickedness, so who will survive if the Avatar decides to uproot? Therefore, I have come to correct the intelligence (buddhi). I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand by as a friend and well-wisher to all, so that they may give up evil propensities and reach the goal. I have to reveal to the people the worth of the Vedas. If you will accept me and say “Yes,” I too will respond and say, “Yes, yes, yes.” If you deny and say “No,” I also echo “No.” Come, examine, experience, have faith. This is the method of utilizing me.
I do not mention Sai Baba in any of my discourses, but I bear the name as Avatar of Sai Baba. I do not appreciate in the least the distinction between the various appearances of God: Sai, Rama, Krishna, etc. I do not proclaim that this is more important or that is less important. Continue your worship of your chosen God along lines already familiar to you, then you will find that you are coming nearer to me. For all names are mine, and all forms are mine. There is no need to change your chosen God and adopt a new one when you have seen me and heard me.
Every step in the career of the Avatar is predetermined. Rama came to feed the roots truth (sathya) and righteousness dharma. Krishna came to foster peace shanti, and love prema. Now all these four are in danger. That is why the present Avatar has come. The righteousness that has fled to the forests has to be brought back into the villages and towns. The anti-righteousness that is ruining the society must be driven back to the jungle.
I have come to give you the key of the treasure of bliss ananda, to teach you how to tap that spring, for you have forgotten the way to blessedness. You have come to get from me tinsel and trash, the petty cures and promotions. Very few of you desire to get from me the thing that I have come to give you: namely, liberation itself. Even among these few, those who stick to the path of spiritual practice (sadhana) and succeed are a handful.
The establishment of righteousness (dharma): that is my aim. The teaching of dharma, the spread of dharma: that is my object. These miracles, as you call them, are just a means toward that end. Some of you remark that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (an Indian saint) said that yogic powers (siddhis) are obstructions in the path of the spiritual aspirant (sadhaka) Yes, yogic powers may lead the spiritual aspirant astray. But the mistake lies in equating me with a sadhaka. These yogic powers are just in the nature of the Avatar. Creation, preservation, and dissolution can be accomplished only by the Almighty … no one else can.
–Baba’s Divine Discourses
Sabari’s Sadhana
Sabari had a very tender, compassionate heart. Her parents arranged her marriage, and as was the custom among the Adivasis a goat was to be offered to the tribal goddess. When Sabari came to know about this slaughter, she wept, and fell at the feet of her parents, praying them to save the goat. But, the father pushed her aside and proceeded with the cruel rite. That night, Sabari stole out of the den of torture and hid herself in the depths of the jungle. Mathanga rishi gave her permission to stay in his hermitage. He told her that God in the form of Sri Rama was coming to the hermitage someday, since He had been exiled into the forests for 14 years. Rama was proceeding from one region to another, with His consort Sita and His brother Lakshmana.
From that day Sabari had no thoughts other than of Rama, no other desire than the desire to have the darshan of Rama, the chance to touch His Feet and to speak with Him. Her heart was saturated with the Ramarasa, the sweetness of the Rama principle. She spent her time, preparing for the visit of Rama to the hermitage; just as she cleaned the paths, she cleaned her heart, too. She walked through the under growth and removed overhanging creepers, for she imagined Rama would not have combed His hair and it might get caught. She gathered fruits from the jungle every day, for no one knew when Rama would arrive! She tasted every fruit, so that Rama could eat the best. She smoothed the surface of all stones that lay by the side of the tracks in the jungle for she hoped that one of them would rest on one of the rocks. Thus, her heart became Rama hridaya! (Lord Rama became the resident of Sabari’s heart).
Devotional Activities in Chicago and Suburbs
- Every Monday
- Bhajans in Aurora Shirdi Mandir from 07:00 PM – 08:00 PM
- Every Wednesday
- Bhajans in Hoffman Estates from 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM
- Every Friday
- Bhajans in Oak Brook from 08:00 PM – 09:00 PM
- First Saturday of the month
- Bhajans in Glenview from 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
- Saturday November 16, 2019
- Paduka Puja in Bolingbrook from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM