New Year with Sai Baba - Sri Sahtya Sai Baba

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	Swami's ways are so wonderful and amazing. As two songs were sung, He called out for the alumni and asked them to render songs. They were taken in by surprise. No planning had gone on in their heads for this session of songs. Where the head fails and heart takes over, memorable moments get etched into ones memories. They began to sing the famous songs of the mid 90s and it was such a nostalgic journey with music. Swami too was fully involved in the songs. When the famous, "Humko Tumse Pyaar Kitna" began Swami jokingly showing the tip of His nail said, "Only itna!" There were smiles on every face as one reminesced the Swami of the bygone years. The songs went on like this when suddenly two students from the bhajan group went up to Swami on the dais.







	There they told Swami, "Swami the day will not be complete without your sweet voice flowing into all of us. All of us are eager to listen to you. Please speak to us." Swami seemed to be refusing and He sent them back to their places. However, as the next song concluded, He signalled for His mikes and there was an explosive applause. Swami began His New Year Discourse, the summary of which is given below.



	Swami began His discourse with the popular verse on the arrival of the Sankranthi festival. He followed it with a vivid description of the season. It is a time when people are busy in agriculture and household activities; when the food grains and pulses are available in plenty and all the farmers gather and sing in joy. The men visit their in-laws and all the members of the family join in with good humour and spend time in fun. Swami's description put everyone to perfect ease and with the mere power of His words, He brought alive the feelings and joy associated with the festival. He also beautifully narrated the tradition where the bull and cow are married off. The cow is named Sita and the bull as Rama. The people entreat and request 'Sita' to accept the handsome and virtuous 'Rama' as her husband! He brought new meaning to the phrase, "Naa Deham" (literally meaning – My body) when He stated, "Naa means 'not' in Sanskrit. So when you say, "Naa Deham" or "Naa Manas", it means, 'I am not the body, I am not the mind'." And so, all our complaints and problems are due to our body attachment and our inability to control the mind. All the six vices are a result of our thoughts alone and there is nothing wrong with the creation. God gives neither joy nor sorrows. He is the eternal witness. It is the mind that does everything. It is responsible for our bondage and our liberation too. So realize that you are God. The Christian message too is the same – To cut the 'i' across and achieve the 'Cross" which is God. The message was loud and clear – give up your identification with all that you are not- the body, mind, intellect- and identify with your Self; the true I. Swami exhorted that realizing our true selves was the only thing to be done in life. "All the wealth, fame and relatives you acquire will add up to nothing. When the body dies, not even a fistful of dust can be taken along." He illustrated this with emperor Alexander's story where he asks to be paraded in the towns with outstretched hands to declare that the great emperor who conquered the world is leaving it empty handed. Even the avatars like Rama and Krishna, having lived fulfilled lives, withdrew from their body and do not exist in a physical frame today. And so thoughts of the Self are paramount. Ultimately, the experience of the Self is inevitable for Self is existence and existence is Self. It has many forms. Pray to and worship the form of your choice but remember that it is all the Self.

	All the symbolism has deeper meanings, He said and to elaborate on it, He waved His hand and materialized an gold ring with a diamond studded on it. In the western countries, the marriage is symbolized with the exchange of rings between the bride and groom. This symbolizes the Love which, like the diamond, should be permanent. Elaborating on the significance of the Sahasra Chandra Darshanam, Swami said, " The Lord is called Sahasra Sheersha Purusha. This does not mean that He has a thousand heads. It means that all the heads are His. So too, when it is said that the Lord had Sahasra Chandra Darshanam, it means that He sees all the minds for the mind is symbolized by he moon. If taken literally, I have seen crores of moons! Swami went on to say that Love was the most important. "You sang that Love is the only bond between us. Keep that always. Do not give up Love even if negative qualities come. Once Love is there all other values come. Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and Ahimsa are the only 5 qualities that exist within and to bring it out is Educare. This love exists in all like the moon that is reflected in the waters of a thousand pots. There is only one moon and there is only One- that's Love. He lashed out against foolish enquiries saying that instead of delving into the underlying unity, people enquire into divisive things like which is Rama's actual birthplace and so on. When that question was posed to Swami, He said, "Rama's actual birthplace is the womb of Kausalya." Only the lazy ones do such meaningless enquiries. Find yourself within and all will be known. All that you call as "My" is only Maya. God and Truth are One though known by different names. Do not fall prey to the paintings and photos being sold. Neither the photographer nor the painter has seen the Lord. They do so out of their imagination. Truly speaking, you are God. Have that faith and display God qualities. If you just close your eyes and see inwards, you will find God. Having said so, Swami said that if anyone had doubts left still, they must be real fools of the highest order. After speaking for more than 70 minutes, Bhagawan asked for Bhajans to begin at 7.25 pm.It was at this time that keeping His morning's promise, Swami granted all the members of the alumni music group the coveted chance to touch His feet. They came in a long line and one by one took His blessings and returned to their places beaming with joy.Prasadam was distributed, and Swami accepted Arati at 7.45 before returning to His residence. As the Aarthi concluded one more beautiful thing happened. Swami called the priest and gifted the diamond ring He had materialised earlier to him. The priest was thrilled and asked, "Swami this means that we are married!" Swami nodded and the priest returned, so happy at this divine gift.




















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